Hey rodroddyfan! Thanks for your inquiry about the car! Turns out that when you win a car on TPiR you win the EXACT car they show you. The Focus was the exact same make, model, color, and year and had all of the features described on the show. It turns out the car had been dropped-ship from Santa Monica Ford out of California to my local Ford dealership in Jamestown, NY.
If you recall, my show was pre-empted on Valentine's Day because Mr. President had to say that there was nothing to worry about, and I had to wait to see myself until April 10. However, the Ford dealership had had the car I won in the back of their lot since a few days after the show was originally meant to air. So if my math is correct, the car had already been here for just a little under two months.
The sofa arrived EXTREMELY early! It was about Groundhogs Day when the FedEx Freight from Arizona pulled up to my snowy front yard. My family helped the delivery man take the sofa from the truck into my living room and asked him questions about prize delivery and such. He said that he personally has never done something like this and when I asked why it came out so early, he said that the show had put in the order just a few days after tape date.
It's kind of sad to see this TPiR chapter of my life finally come to an end, but I'll always have the satisfaction of knowing I was a contestant on Bob Barker's TPiR and will always be in the books. And I'll always have the stories for the children and grandchildren. Next on the list: another trip to TBBS and Drew!