– Jeff Bruss, Publisher

The media credentials afforded to me through this magazine have certainly had some rewards. Today was perhaps the greatest yet. Media gets SEMA Show access a full 30 minutes earlier than the standard SEMA population. It give us an opportunity to take photos before the bulk of the people arrive later in the morning. Today I bee-lined it for Ford to snap some people-free photos of a very special display.

Showcasing the Ford booth is the 1966 LeMans winning Ford GT40 piloted by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon. The black number 2 car has been restored and is now owned by Rob Kaufmann of Charlotte, North Carolina. He has a dedicated crew that maintains and transports the car around the nation. Currently it's sitting in Vegas at the SEMA Show, but afterwards Greg Smith, the RK Motors Transportation Manager, gets to haul it over to the Petersen Museum. Greg told me he gets to haul it all over the country, and yes, he's the guy who gets to drive it in and out of the trailer and park it wherever it's going. Greg is obviously a lucky man, who exercises great constraint in not letting his right foot get the best of him during the moving process. Greg had a smile on his face that tells me he was deserving of the position, no matter how jealous I might be I'll let him keep the job.

Sharing the stage with the LeMans-winning GT40 is a race-fresh Ford GT. It comes complete with asphalt grime, bugs, and punctured body panels. I can't help but think that 50 years from now a new generation of car lovers will look at the Ecoboost-powered racer in awe, wondering what it was like to race the technology-rich Ford in 2016. 

These are both truly beautiful automobiles, I hope you enjoy the photos and video walk-around as much as I enjoyed taking them.