The Ford Mustang GTD is staggeringly expensive and should offer extreme performance for buyers brave enough to push it, but its exclusive price tag has already led some to look for the next best thing. Unfortunately for one SEMA presenter, the “next best thing” was a GTD lookalike, and Ford didn’t take kindly to the display.
Builder TJ Hunt created a widebody Mustang that bears a striking resemblance to Ford’s super-Mustang. He documented the build process and his trip to SEMA on YouTube, but he’d barely made it into Las Vegas before receiving an email about the car.
Hunt told Hagerty, “And then I received an email from SEMA I literally just got this email as we were getting into Vegas. It essentially says that the auto manufacturer sent a formal complaint to the board and that the Mustang is banned from SEMA this year. I’m pretty upset.”
While it’s not quite as well put-together as Ford’s multi-six-figure GTD, Hunt’s build has many of the same exterior details. It features dramatic air vents cut into the front fender and a beefier front-end look. It also sports side air vents behind the doors and a massive rear diffuser like the GTD.
Ford is doing everything it can to make the GTD a “special” car, including offering buyers the option to pay more for a one-off color that is unavailable to other owners. Those efforts make this move a little less surprising, but it kinda feels like Ford could’ve called the guy before he drove to SEMA.
[Images: Ford]
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