By far and away, one of the most charming and delighful people to ever come on Top Gear’s “Star In A Reasonably Priced Car” segment was Scottish singer-songwriter, Amy Macdonald. We know that she’s a serious car nut and that she’s in line for a new Ford GT. But did you know that I’m her new biggest fan?
Earlier this month, Macdonald sat down for an interview with Top Gear magazine, revealing that—for her, at least—the Ford GT saga began with media hype, much like it did for the rest of us (also, I don’t know about you, but I read all of her answers with a Scottish accent in my head):
Top Gear: It’s obviously a daft question, but why the Ford GT?
Amy Macdonald: I’ve never even driven a Ford before, but I got swept up in the hullabaloo. Every magazine, every website, anybody with any interest in cars, they were all totally excited about the Ford GT. So I thought I’d apply, never in a million years expecting to get one. I’m pretty much an accidental Ford GT owner.
[...]
AM: It was like applying for a job. You had to outline your car history, and explain why you thought you deserved one. Being Scottish, I’m not very good at blowing my own trumpet that way. At the time I owned the Ferrari 458 Speciale and a Range Rover, and they’d left all this space on the form presuming that prospective owners were going to have a showroom’s worth of cars. So I pointed out that while I only had those two, I’m obviously still pretty young and haven’t had a lot of time to amass a big collection. There must have been an element of vetting, but I really didn’t expect to get one, so I was thinking, ‘whatever, I’ll write anything down…’
She revealed that Ford wants its customers to pay 50 percent up front for the car, but since the price of the car is still unclear, Macdonald said that it’s “even more mysterious than dealing with Ferrari.” (Wow.)
Currently, her garage includes a Ferrari 488 and a 458 Speciale.
A blue Ford GT would look right at home there.
Wrapping up the interview, Macdonald assured Top Gear that she definitely buys her cars to enjoy them, not to invest in them or garage them. “There are a few around, people who just buy them to sell them on,” she said. “I really hate that. What’s the point in having a car like that and then never even taking it out?”
Ugh. I want to be friends with her so badly. Just remember: every single one of her songs will go toward a new Chiron or whatever’s next.
You can read the rest of the interview here.