2008 was a pretty bad year all around. The stock market was crashing, automakers were begging for government cash, and consumer confidence crumbled. It was a bad scene, and companies like Ford did all they could to stay afloat, including sell off some rare, prized assets. Hell, Ford even took out a loan against the iconic Blue Oval symbol.

So is it any real surprise that the first prototype Ford GT went up for auction almost right away? Yahoo! Autos has the story of how the very first Ford GT prototype, which includes numerous features that never made it into production, wound up in the hands of a private collector.

In 2008, Joseph Limongelli attended a private Ford auction event in Las Vegas. Limongelli, who calls himself “GT Joey”, already owned several Ford GTs, the 21st century homage to the original Ferrari-beating Ford GT40 race cars. He bought the prototype for an undisclosed price, though due to its prototype nature, it can never be driven faster than 5 mph.

But that’s OK for GT Joey, who sees himself as preserving a piece of Ford history. See, this prototype Ford GT features some incredible advancements not found on regular GTs, including a $45,000 carbon fiber clamshell fitted at the back of the engine compartment. There are two different high-speed filler doors, an aluminum headliner, and experimental exhaust pipes among other oddities.

GT Joey intends to take care of this Ford GT for at least a couple of decades, seeing himself as a caretaker of the car for future generations. While admirable, we don’t know how he can resist the urge to remove the rev limiter for just a couple of track days here or there…