It’s official: I have driven the world’s most ostentatious car. Not only is it a big-winged, $1 million supercar, but it’s wrapped in the world’s most popular YouTuber’s branding. It’s the Mr. Beast ‘Feastables’ Ford GT, and it is the most ostentatious attention-magnet in the history of cars.
I’m talking about this machine, featured on the YouTube channel of MrBeast, who has 213 million subscribers.
“Hey David, you should drive that Feastables Ford GT while we have it,” Autopian cofounder Beau texted me one day. “Hold on; you’re asking me to drive a $1 million car? Uh, I think I can find time for that.”
So I walked over to Galpin Ford, a sales manager handed me the rather typical-looking Ford key, and I walked outside to see it:
Just wow. Look at that tall wing. Look at that baby blue wrap. Look at those strange shapes strewn throughout. Look at that huge “feastables” logo on each door. It’s ridiculous, and that became even clearer when I took the vehicle on the road.
I pushed the little paddle in the bodywork and swung up and open the wacky doors, at which point I gazed briefly at a key that looks like the same one used for a $25,000 Ford Maverick:
I then struggled to figure out how to adjust the seat. Answer: You don’t — you adjust the pedals. And doing so involves pulling a strap on the left side of the vehicle’s central “backbone.” (i.e. on the right side of the driver’s footwell). Pulling it yields a “pop” noise that is a bit alarming if you’re not ready for it:
Anyway, I hit that red button you see in the image above, and the 660 horsepower twin-turbo V6 fired up. I spun the also-rather-generic dial-shifter on the backbone into “drive,” and headed out onto the streets of Van Nuys.
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It was both epic and weird.
At one point, a woman pulled up next to me and asked me to roll down my window. The first thing she said was: “My son is going to be just like you.” She told me his name, and talked about how proud of him she was, and how she knows he’s going to be successful enough to own such a car. I told her the car wasn’t mine, but she just kept talking about her son and how he’s going to make it big someday.
I thought that was awesome. What a great mom.
She later helped me get out of a bit of a traffic jam, and waved goodbye as she sped off.
It wasn’t clear in her case if the MrBeast wrap — technically a Feastables wrap meant to advertise his chocolate company — is what got her attention or if it was just the over-the-top supercar, but I can tell you that multiple other folks stopped me to say how much their kids would love this car. They took photos in front of it to show their children later; “My son is going to LOVE this!” they shouted with excitement.
That’s the thing about this GT — it has absurd appeal. Older car-folks love it because it’s a Ford GT, which has a rich racing history. Young car folks love it because, well, just look at it. And non-car-youngsters love it because they’re huge MrBeast fans. With this GT, you cannot escape. There is no anonymity. I’m fairly sure I was picking my nose at one point while driving this thing, and I know for a fact that there’s probably a picture out there of me extracting a rich, golden nugget.
As for how it drove: It was sublime. It’s surprisingly drivable even on rough roads, especially when you consider that it was developed with racing in mind. The ride honestly isn’t bad, the steering is direct but not too direct, and the brakes are grabby but not sticky.
Getting over bumps and inclines can be a challenge (but the suspension ride height can be adjusted via a switch, so it’s not too bad), and it took me a while to figure out where the turn signals are (they’re on the wheel), plus visibility isn’t amazing out the rear, but honestly, overall the GT could totally be daily-driven, which is not something I’d ever say. And to be sure, to actually daily this $1 million machine would be insane.
The twin-turbo V6 does offer a bit of lag, but the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission bangs out shifts with vigor, rocketing this vehicle down the streets of Van Nuys in a way that turned everything in my periphery into a blur.
Perhaps most important to the driving experience was the sound. I’m usually not a big fan of the way V6s sound, but the Ford GT’s twin-turbo, 660 horsepower sledgehammer behind my seat sang a violent tune, roaring with each application of that rightmost pedal, goading me to go further and further. The 405 wasn’t the road for this vehicle, and neither were the surface streets of Van Nuys.
Sadly, I spent much of my time driving the Feastables Ford GT in traffic, and while you might think that this wasn’t the most fun way to drive this sporty machine, if you consider how much joy all the folks in the cars around me felt looking at this absurdity, maybe it was.
> And to be sure, to actually daily this $1 million machine would be insane
Why though? It’s a car, made for driving. If you can afford it, you can afford the maintenance and depreciation. Drive it!
I own a rare and kind of ridiculously excessive car with low miles and it takes me to Trader Joe’s and doctors’ appointments. Why not?
Never heard of this guy before today. Kinda like Willy Wonka and the guy from Jackass had a kid? Sounds delightful. I’ll pass.
It would be fun to drive a GT once, though.
Really? I can’t escape from his face, it follows me endlessly no matter where I go on YouTube. Always with a strange open-jawed vaguely excited expression pointing at something outlandish, which I end up not watching simply because of the obnoxious thumbnails.
To be fair though, he seems like a genuinely good dude. Half his videos are just finding fun ways to donate massive amounts to charity, giving away stuff for fun, paying for people’s medical bills, and so on. And his viewers like it so they support him and he spends the majority of the money on more charities and giving away more stuff. He keeps it family-friendly too, and some of his video ideas are intriguing simply for the mind-boggling scale of it since, well, he can afford to make it a spectacle.
His content isn’t to everyone’s taste, but given how wholesome most of it is, I hope he keeps at it and continues to find success.
The Youtube generation likes the guy, but he is a bit like Doug Deturdo, completely difficult to even accidentally watch for me.
And just where did you deposit your golden gem? I bet you rubbed it off the bottom side of the seat cushion like the rest of us animals.
My ONLY question!!!! Where did that boogie go?
“My son is going to grow up just like you!”- Random Women
“Ma’am, I’m international known for eating spaghetti in the shower.”- Hollywood DT
Wait I thought he cooks them in the shower.
No one knows for sure. It’s a myth like the Fall of Troy, Atlantis or the time a single income could family of four. Thru the ages many have spoken about a dude from Michigan who brought pasta into the bathroom. As conquers came and went, the truth has been lost. Hopefully, one day we will find evidence of the Pasta Prince. Till then, we can only speculate
The Pasta Prince of Bel Air
No, that’s Kramer since he has a food disposal in there
I read that as “internally” known
I’ve never watched a Mr. Beast video, I have no opinion of him but I understand he does a lot of charity stuff. That said…is there a more punchable face on the internet?
Whislin diesel is 1000x more punchable
Lol, yeah I don’t like his thumbnails either, but I’ve seen a few of his videos before and he does indeed seem like a genuinely good person. Lots of charity stuff, lots of giving away things, and lots of creative video ideas with an impressively massive scale to them.
You guys finally mentioned MrBeast and barely touched on your collaboration!!! Did you guys sign an NDA or something???
I honestly don’t know who Mr. Beast is. However, a few years back I found myself driving an Ital design Aztec to a photo shoot. That got just a teeny bit of attention. Stupid o’clock in the morning waiting for the sun to rise in the middle of an urban building site we had to ask the crowd to move back.
Mr. Beast is an interesting phenomenon. He’s obviously wildly popular (my nephews and nieces are all about his vids) and has done some very charitable things with his wealth like paying to have fresh water wells built in impoverished parts of Africa. At the same time, he was recently under fire for faking some of his altruism such as giving homeless people money on camera and then afterwards taking it back.
Either way, that kind of content is not my bag but he’s good at what he does, so there is that, I suppose. Who knows what’s is true anymore, anyway?
Who has claimed he’s taken the money back? I think you might have him confused with another YouTuber
It’s possible. I probably should have verified a hazy recollection to be sure but I’m not getting paid to comment so there is that. lol
His macro societal niche seems to be being the 21st century version of a professional athlete – an aspirational thing that every little kid wants to be, but statistically, that almost none of them will end up being.
I’m not sure sports star is apt, but for sure it’s a changing of the guard on what is admirable these days. I guess part of getting old is when kids grow up and get jobs deciding what is cool and the whole paradigm shifts. I’m not even attempting to keep up anymore, lol
The difference is that, more or less, the playing field is equal for all people. Anyone who truly dedicates themselves to YouTube will succeed eventually. MrBeast started, arguably, with the least optimal set of talents to become a YouTuber
“Anyone who truly dedicates themselves to YouTube will succeed eventually.”
Nope, as those people who established their channels early are successful, but those content creators who are new to it struggle to get any views despite the quality of their content…
Very wrong. There’s new channels coming up all the time. Literally the other day I saw a new channel’s first video with a third of a million views. It had a good concept, good execution, good thumbnail, good title, tight editing, and super engaging first ten seconds. Anyone who follows that formula will succeed
Uhhhhhh who is this guy?
The mom interaction story gives me a real bad vibe honestly, lol.
Very LA-desperate to me, too
The most popular YouTuber on the platform, who interestingly made it big by finding fun ways to give away heaps of money – through charities, hospitals, or literally just handing money to random people. At first, a lot of his videos would cost more to make than any revenue they generated, but it worked.
Since then, he’s expanded to organizing and collaborating on massive video ideas, such as huge competitions and massive spectacles. For example, a while ago he hired some automotive YouTubers to build a jet-propelled Pontiac “rocket car” to see how many school buses it could jump over. And all those massive stunts, as expensive as they are, end up generating enough revenue for whatever his next big charity-related videos end up being. It’s a rather interesting phenomenon, even if his content isn’t to everyone’s taste.
Thanks for the explanation, that was a helpful summary.
please remove the airbag warning tag hanging on the glove box. it’s not like the labels on your mattress which you MUST keep attached
Even that is misunderstood! That warning is directed at the manufacturer. You, the end user, are allowed to remove those tags. 🙂
the mattress police are very real :p
https://youtu.be/AJuIYcVnc2I?si=zJ3F7eAKn0qVoF2Q&t=90
To this day I still don’t get what’s so “beastly” about this guy who is reputedly of some fame. Is he anything like such certified badasses as Capt. Ernest Evans and Sen. Daniel Inouye?
He got his name from a random name generator lol
It wasn’t quite clear from the post, but does Mr. Beast still own this car, and if so, does he know journalists are driving his car? The more I think about this, it’s a little weird.
Like how the mom seemed to at least at first think David was in fact Mr. Beast?
Does he know journalists are “extracting a rich, golden nugget” from their nose whilst driving his car?
Somehow I feel that golden nugget ended up as part of the headliner.
The funny thing to me is that Beau has his own Ford GT and he told David to drive this one.
It’s Galpin’s. MrBeast borrowed it!
The only reason I know about Mr Beast is because my 7-year-old and apparently every other child on earth is obsessed with him. Having kids has finally paid off!
Same as my 7 year old. My wife is an elementary teacher and says it is very common in the age group. As a 43 year old I clearly not the target audience but I look on the bright side that at least he isn’t as annoying as many of the other videos.
I have no idea who MrBeast is, and the concept of “influencers” is still a mystery to me. I’m old…
They’re just 21st century pitch-people; some pitching things that haven’t been traditionally directly sold, like emotional solidarity, but still selling things. New medium, but old concept.
You know, if I saw that car out and about I wouldn’t have a damn clue who/what it was advertising for. Internet celebrities are weird..
You wouldn’t. But to David’s point, younger people would. And us olds would be excited to see a Ford GT.
Oh absolutely, the GT is neat but I can’t count how many times I’ve had people ask me if I saw “X video by X” to which I’ve replied with a baffled shrug!
Not really, as a real Ford GT is exciting, but not the new techno-garbage GT…
If it doesn’t have a clutch pedal then it isn’t really a sports car !!!
[ Except that clean green Mazda MX5 with an automatic with hand controls, owned by a local Veteran Hero who lost both legs above the knee in Iraq, of course…]
I’m only barely joking when I say the thing I like least about the Viper is the fact that it uses the regular corporate FCA key fob. Not even in red like the Hellcats.
To see that Ford does the same thing on their supercar costing 8 times as much is frankly laughable. You couldn’t find a few bucks in the million dollar price for a billet key or something more substantial?
At the end of the day it’s a Ford. So, as expensive and capable as it is some things are still gunna just be Ford.
Sweating the details is why people buy Ferrari, etc. Or is it for their egos? Anyway, you get my point.
I know the heritage GT (the 2005) had even more parts bin stuff, but that one was less expensive, right? 😉
Much less expensive. $140K to start, and if I’m remembering right, they had trouble selling some at that price. Ridiculous to imagine now, but so many of the great cars are unappreciated in their own time.
I want to say that when Doug Demuro bought his used, while he didn’t directly say it, he hinted if he’d had the money when it had first come out, he could have picked one up new then.
The internals can remain the same, it’s not like it’s some insurmountable task to put a more appropriate skin on it
It really should be something fancier. David has a troubled relationship with borrowed Ford keys anyway…
Would you be mad if a 1969 Miura had a regular brass key like a Toyota Tercel, or your front door?
I guess I don’t understand caring even a little about the key I use to start the car. If it starts the car, it has done all I need it to do and I can now forget about it.
It’s like taking your wife to a fine dining restaurant downtown and all they have on the menu is McDonalds burgers.
Sure, the food provides calories and thus has done “all I need it to do” in that sense, but I’d certainly be disappointed that the reality doesn’t match the implied experience.
I’d argue it’s like taking your wife to a fine dining restaurant downtown and they have some noticeably cheap door handles on the front doors. Which you might care about, for a second, before you go into the restaurant and do what you want there to do.
You’re not getting in a Viper and then being disappointed when it has a “McDonalds” 2.0 turbo that then is disappointing for the whole rest of your drive.
Every time I pick up my keys to get in my car and every time I take them out of my pocket to lock or unlock my doors I’m reminded that FCA would rather have saved a couple dollars on a six figure car than provide something nicer than they gave the driver of a Dodge Journey or Dart.
No, it’s not the biggest deal in the world, but it is annoying.
My spare Ferrari key was made from a Fiat blank, but I guess given Dino, it’s not quiiiiiite the same thing. But I feel you!
> my spare Ferrari
Nice flex
> … key
Oh OK
Ha!
You take v10omous’s wife to fine restaurants?
Whenever possible
And a key is a little different today than in the past for sure – it’s now basically a little-ish (see complaint below) electronic device, rather than a tiny piece of metal.
So more customizable at the very least, which makes it surprising perhaps when companies don’t take full advantage of that, given the visually competitive world in which we live.
(For the record, I love how old sportscars just had basic metal keys, to which you maybe added a leather fob. These days, “keys” are so big already that a fob can seem like overkill in your pocket!)
“ These days, “keys” are so big already that a fob can seem like overkill in your pocket!”
As an EDC obsessive, who does leatherwork as a hobby, I agree wholeheartedly.
There are many more clever, comfortable and dignified ways to carry old keys.
I don’t want to carry around a remote control all day, it’s cumbersome and uncomfortable.
Toting around modern “keys” makes me feel like an old timey janitor or artistically expressive and sentimental college girl.
Keys should not make pockets bulge, nor should they necessitate the use of a lanyard.
The cut of my pants these days is fairly trim, as is the style of the time, and when it comes to pants, there’s no bulge that’s a good thing…
I’m more about being able to use all items I come into contact with for a purpose than EDC, and hate having things in my pockets. With the ubiquity of needing a cell phone I do love the ability to use it as my key and credit card and need nothing else to carry. Bonus points when my watch can do it all!
WTF ???
Being able to get a replacement key fob quickly at the Ford Dealer is the way to go…
I recently purchased a used Fiat 500 Abarth, which came with special, red “Tributo Ferrari” keys.