Only fifty-some shoppings days left...

...until Christmas!

I know most of you don't want to hear that, but I'm doing you a favor, really. As I'm positive some of you might want to get together and pool your resources to play Santa for me, I'm giving you some extra time to get 'er done.

If the esteemed Mr O'Fly can pimp what he wants for Christmas in his journal, why can't I?

And here it is...


photo credit: some other guy took the picture

This is not the "new" Ford GT, but its ancestor, the car that inspired the modern "recreation." I've been fortunate enough to drive both old and new and, though the current version is one of the great cars available out of a showroom today, it doesn't quite have the sheer gutsy appeal of the real thing.

It's a little slower, too. The 2006 Ford GT will nudge 200 mph, but the 1966 GT Mark II seen here was good for perhaps 225.

The original lacks air conditioning and an audio system, of course. Being a mere 40 inches high, it's not the easiest car in the world to climb in and out of (neither is the new one). No muffler, either. But I can live with that.

I'm still looking out for your best interests, by the way. Before you start scrambling for reasons why all y'all can't pony up enough dough to put this under my tree, here's your ready-made excuse: this particular car is the actual winner of the 1966 24-hour sports-car race at Le Mans, France, and is thus unique. I'm told the owner has no intention of ever selling it.

Hell, I wouldn't either.

But I can dream, can't I?

And having this magnificent little beast in my garage come December 25 seems a more possible dream than getting what I really want for Christmas, which is something money can't buy....