Mitigate the problem? First, take out the dang floor mats! Second, don't drive with 'flip flops' (personal experience talking here). Those dang flip flops can tie themselves into knots around the brake, clutch and gas pedal in short order.
As far as year of car goes, there is nothing you can do about that. If the news article referred to it as as a '2001 FFR' (or what ever) the public wouldn't have a clue what their talking about. That is why some States CORRECTLY identify the MODEL of a replica as a "1965" Cobra, or what ever year is applicable to the car in question. News articles carefully avoid the 'is it real' question and wisely so.
