Ford says owners won’t be allowed to drive their new Mustang GTD for a month, here’s why: Jalopnik

Getting your hands on the most expensive street-legal Mustang is a privilege reserved for the lucky few. Even if you manage to apply for and get your hands on a GTD after jumping through all the hoops and Ford’s crazy allocation process, you might still have to wait a while before hitting the road with this track weapon – 30 days to be exact.

You can still drive it anyway, but Ford advises against this. Surprisingly, the reason is not related to the memory, as many might assume, but rather to the paint. Ford has advised Mustang GTD owners to wait 30 days for the paint to fully cure and flash off.

It’s not uncommon to see exotics given paint protection films, or PPF, as soon as owners take delivery of them, and most GTD buyers will likely go the same route. The last thing you want is to drive your $325,000 Ford Mustang GTD through a hailstorm and damage the paint.

However, Ford would like to point out that the wait for PPF is necessary due to the extensive use of carbon fiber in the Mustang GTD, as the traditional curing process that works with steel and aluminum cannot be performed on the GTD at the factory.

Degassing is especially important to prevent holes or bubbles in the paint caused by trapped air in the carbon composites. This can of course apply to any surface and not just carbon. Since this super-fast Mustang is a limited-edition special built in collaboration with Multimatic, it isn’t fully subject to the usual assembly-line formalities and instead follows a more handcrafted approach, evidenced by the GTD’s paint degassing window.

Applying PPF before the paint has fully cured can lead to blistering and even serious paint damage. Mass-produced cars can usually avoid the wait time for PPF treatment because exotic materials are rarely used, and the industrial ovens that OEMs use can cure the paint quite quickly.

Professional installers have ways to inspect the paint to know if it is ready for PPF. To prevent paint damage and expensive adjustments to the GTD or other high-end sports car, it is best to follow the OEM’s instructions. In the absence of such guidelines, the typical industry recommended waiting period for PPF is between 30 and 90 days, depending on the paint type, humidity, ambient temperature and the actual curing method itself.

So if anyone asks why the brand new six-figure, 815-horsepower Mustang GTD you just bought is sitting in the garage without being driven, tell them it’s the paint.