The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for the 2017 model year. The GT recalls Ford's historically significant GT40, a consecutive four-time winner of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

(1966–1969), including a 1-2-3 finish in 1966. __TOC__

First generation (2005–2006)

Development

The Ford GT began life as a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

designed in anticipation of the automaker's centennial year and as part of its drive to showcase and revive its "heritage" names such as

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, the ...

and Thunderbird. At the 2002 North American International Auto Show, Ford unveiled a new GT40 Concept car. Camilo Pardo, the then head of Ford's "Living Legends" studio, is credited as the chief designer of the GT and worked under the guidance of J Mays. Carroll Shelby, the original designer of the Shelby GT 500, was brought in by Ford to help develop the GT; which included performance testing of the prototype car. While under development, the project was called ''Petunia''. The GT is similar in outward appearance to the original GT40, but is bigger, wider, and most importantly taller than the original's overall height; as a result, a potential name for the car was the GT44. Although the cars are visually related, structurally, there is no similarity between the modern GT and the 1960s GT40 that inspired it. After six weeks from the unveiling of the GT40 concept, Ford announced a limited production run of the car. Three pre-production cars were shown to the public in 2003 as part of Ford's centenary celebrations, and delivery of the production version called simply the Ford GT began in the fall of 2004. As the Ford GT was built as part of the company's 100th anniversary celebration, the left headlight cluster was designed to read "100".

Naming difficulties

A British company, Safir Engineering, who built continuation GT40 cars in the 1980s, owned the "GT40" trademark at that time. When production of the continuation cars ended, they sold the excess parts, tooling, design, and trademark to a small

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

based company called Safir GT40 Spares. This company licensed the use of the "GT40" trademark to Ford for the initial 2002 show car. When Ford decided to put the GT40 concept to production stage, negotiations between the two firms failed as Ford did not pay the US$40 million the owners of the name demanded. Thus, the production cars are simply called the GT.

Production

The GT was produced for the 2005 and 2006 model years. The car began assembly at Mayflower Vehicle Systems (MVS) in Norwalk, Ohio and was painted and continued assembly at Saleen Special Vehicles (SSV) facility in

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

, Michigan, through contract by Ford. The GT is powered by an engine built at Ford's Romeo Engine Plant in Romeo, Michigan. Installation of the engine and

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission ** ...

along with seats and interior finishing was handled in the SVT building at Ford's

Wixom, Michigan Wixom is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 13,498 at the 2010 census. As a western suburb of Metro Detroit, Wixom is about northwest of the city of Detroit. The city was home to the now-demolished Wix ...

plant. Of the 4,500 cars originally planned, approximately 100 were to be exported to Europe, starting in late 2005. An additional 200 cars were destined for sale in Canada. Production ended in September 2006 without reaching the planned production target. Approximately 550 cars were built in 2004, nearly 1,900 in 2005, and just over 1,600 in 2006, for a grand total of 4,038 cars. The final 11 car bodies manufactured by Mayflower Vehicle Systems were disassembled, and the frames and body panels were sold as service parts. The Wixom Assembly Plant has stopped production of all models as of May 31, 2007. Sales of the GT continued into 2007, from cars held in storage and in dealer inventories.

Heritage edition

Ford produced a total of 346 Heritage editions, recognizable by the Gulf Oil-inspired livery. The livery is in honor of the back to back wins of Ford at the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

and

1969 24 Hours of Le Mans This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approac ...

by the GT40 Mk I.

Sales and marketing

When the Ford GT was first announced, the demand outpaced supply, and the cars initially sold for premium prices. The first private sale of Ford's new mid-engine sports car was completed on August 4, 2004, when former

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

executive

Jon Shirley Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".McIntosh sound system, racing stripes, painted brake calipers, and forged alloy wheels adding US$13,500 to the MSRP.

Performance and engineering

The Ford GT features many technologies unique at its time including a superplastic-formed frame, aluminum body panels, roll-bonded floor panels, a friction stir welded center tunnel, covered by a magnesium center console, a " ship-in-a-bottle" gas tank, a capless fuel filler system, one-piece panels, and an aluminum engine cover with a one-piece

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

inner panel. Brakes are four-piston aluminum

Brembo Brembo S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. Its head office is in Curno, Bergamo, Italy. History Brembo was established in Paladina, Italy on January 11, 196 ...

calipers with cross-drilled and vented rotors at all four corners. When the rear canopy is opened, the rear suspension components and engine are visible. The 5.4 L

longitudinal Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Longitude ** Line of longitude, also called a meridian * Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...

rear mounted Modular V8 engine is an all-

aluminum alloy An aluminium alloy (or aluminum alloy; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There are two princip ...

engine with an

Eaton Eaton may refer to: Buildings Canada * Eaton Centre, the name of various shopping malls in Canada due to having been anchored by an Eaton's store * Eaton's / John Maryon Tower, a cancelled skyscraper in Toronto * Eaton Hall (King City), a conferen ...

2300 Lysholm screw-type supercharger. It features a forged rotating assembly housed in an aluminum block designed specifically for the car. A dry sump oiling system is employed, allowing the engine to sit low in the car's frame. The DOHC 4 valves per cylinder heads are a revision of the 2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R cylinder heads (with slightly increased wall casting thickness in the exhaust port). The

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams, in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition systems ...

s have unique specifications, with more lift and duration than those found in the Shelby GT500. Power output is at 6,500 rpm and of torque at 4,500 rpm. A Ricardo 6-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...

is fitted featuring a helical

limited-slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...

. '' Car and Driver'' tested the GT in January 2004 and recorded a 0- acceleration time of 3.3 seconds. Performance: 2005 Ford GT coupe (8452005269)

*Top speed: *: 11.8 seconds *: 3.8 seconds *: 12.3 seconds *: 44.3 seconds

Fuel consumption

The

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...

mileage estimate for the GT is in city driving, and in highway cruising, for a combined .

Other media

The GT won '' Top Gear''s Gas Guzzler of the Year award in 2005. One of the show's presenters,

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes '' Top Gear'' and '' The Grand Tour'' alongside R ...

, owned a GT and despite initially reserving high acclaim for the vehicle, ultimately requested a refund from Ford due to extensive problems with the car's aftermarket alarm system. During the GT's production run, the car was featured on the cover of the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

Gran Turismo 4 ''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 racing video game for the PlayStation 2, the fourth installment in the main ''Gran Turismo'' series and the sixth for the overall series. It was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entert ...

'', and was also featured in '' Need for Speed: Carbon'' and '' Need for Speed: ProStreet'', as well as being made into physical form in the ''Transformers: Alternators'' toyline, which featured realistic cars turning into Cybertronians; the Ford GT mold was used for the characters

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

and Rodimus.

Standing mile speed record

Modified versions of the Ford GT have established several speed records, including the standing mile. One modified version broke the record for fastest street legal vehicle (the vehicle used in the record run is street legal and registered for road use in the U.S.A) achieved by a highly modified twin turbo version of the original 5.4-liter V8 rated at approximately with a top speed of set in Texas in March 2019.

Ford GTX1

The Ford GTX1 is an aftermarket roadster iteration of the Ford GT introduced by the company at the 2005

SEMA Show Sama ( tr, Sema, Persian, Urdu and ar, سَمَاع - ''samā‘un'') is a Sufi ceremony performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice dhikr. Sama means "listening", while dhikr means "remembrance".During, J., and R. Sellheim. "Sa ...

. The car was built by Mark Gerisch, owner of Genaddi Design Group from Green Bay, Wisconsin with assistance from Ford. Kip Ewing, a development engineer who had been involved in the development of the GT and conceived the idea, supervised the project. The resulting chassis is ten percent less stiff than the standard GT. The design was inspired by the open top GT40 which was conceived in the 1960s. The car had a modified engine cover, modified doors (with roof portions removed) and a central removal roof bar. Two roof pieces could be installed and removed when the roof bar was installed making the car a T-top, a canvas roof panel would be installed when the roof bar was removed. The car had headrests inspired from the Porsche Carrera GT. The car received a positive response at the show and customers urged Ford to build this version of the GT but the end of the production of the GT in the forthcoming year meant that it would be expensive to produce another limited variant of the car. The GTX1 was offered as a kit by the body shop adding US$38,000 to the price of a standard Ford GT. The involvement of Ford in the process meant that the warranty and other obligations on the car were unaltered. A total of 100 orders for the GTX1 were received and completed over a two-year planned production period, these including the exact copies of the SEMA show car. Other modifications on the GTX1 included race seats, a customized interior, new Wilwood brakes, a hidden rear bumper and a maximum power increase to . The GTX1 was featured in various automotive publications along with several reviews.

Second generation (2016–2022)

At the 2015 North American International Auto Show and at the unveiling of the 2015 racing video game '' Forza Motorsport 6'', the second-generation Ford GT was shown to the public with plans for production in 2016, after a decade-old hiatus from the first generation. The car marked 50 years since the GT40 won the

1966 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 34th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 18 and 19 June 1966. It was also the seventh round of the 1966 World Sportscar Championship season. This was the first overall win at Le Mans for the Ford GT40 ...

and competed successfully in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans to better celebrate the anniversary, winning the LM GTE-Pro class, taking 1st and 3rd in class.

Development

The development of the second generation GT at Ford was a very secretive operation–according to design director Chris Svensson, "a handful of twelve people, including some key engineers, had access to the esign studio. This secrecy was maintained inside Ford and to the press until its 2015 unveiling at the North American Auto Show. The design of the new GT began with its aerodynamics package, which was closely related to the ultimate focus of the design team of creating a successful

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

race car. Low downforce and aerodynamic efficiency were of primary importance in the development of the exterior of the car, and this drove designers to pursue a 'teardrop profile' as often seen in LMP1 cars. The powertrain of the new GT, therefore, became a secondary criterion to the external design and aerodynamic performance of the car. Although a V8 and even a V12 engine were both considered, it was ultimately decided to use Ford's EcoBoost V6 engine due to the degrees of freedom that the compact engine gave designers. The intent behind the design was for the overall look of the second generation GT to be recognizable as a part of the GT line, which meant, for example, a cut back front nose piece, circular tail lights, and raised twin exhaust pipes. There was no explicit requirement for luxury or practicality in the design of the road car, which is the reason behind the car's negligible cargo space and spartan interior. The interior seating position was fixed to provide additional space for the bodywork and teardrop exterior shape.

Overview

Like its predecessor, the new Ford GT is only offered as a 2-door coupe with the mid-rear layout, for the purpose of improved stability by keeping the center of gravity near the middle. The new GT's weight distribution is 43% front and 57% rear. Unlike the first generation car, the new GT has

butterfly doors Butterfly doors are a type of car door sometimes seen on high-performance cars. They are slightly different from scissor doors. While scissor doors move straight up via hinge points at the bottom of a car's A-pillar, butterfly doors move up an ...

that no longer include a piece integrated into the roof.

Powertrain

The car is powered by a

twin-turbocharged Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...

Ford EcoBoost V6 engine rated at and of torque.2017 Ford GT confirmed with 647 hp, 216 mph top speed
- Viknesh Vijayenthiran,

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

, 25 January 2017 For the 2020 model year and beyond, this power output rating was increased to . The engine shares many components with the F-150's 3.5 L V6 engine including the cylinder heads, block and dual fuel system. Notable differences include larger turbochargers, an aluminum intake manifold, a custom dry sump lubrication system, unique camshafts and higher strength rotating and timing drive components. The engine is paired to a Getrag ''7DCL750'' 7-speed

dual-clutch transmission A dual-clutch transmission (DCT) (sometimes referred to as a twin-clutch transmission) is a type of multi-speed vehicle transmission system, that uses two separate clutches for odd and even gear sets. The design is often similar to two sepa ...

Chassis

Underpinning the new GT is a carbon fiber

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

bolted to aluminum front and rear subframes covered in carbon fiber body panels. The windshield of the vehicle is made of

Gorilla Glass Gorilla Glass is a brand of chemically strengthened glass developed and manufactured by Corning, now in its seventh generation. Designed to be thin, light and damage-resistant, the glass gains its surface strength, ability to contain flaws, and ...

manufactured by Corning, which is also used for manufacturing smartphone screens. The Gorilla Glass is used to reduce the weight of the vehicle by allowing for a thinner windscreen with the same strength as a normal glass windscreen. The GT employs a four-stage external dry sump oil pump and has an oil capacity of .

Suspension

The new GT uses a pushrod suspension system, which move the primary components of the suspension inboard and provide space for the large aerodynamic elements in the bodywork of the car. The suspension is hydraulically adjustable, and the ride height can drop from in comfort mode to in Track or Vmax modes. These drive modes also dynamically adjust the dampening component of the suspension, which consists of two springs stacked in series. In Track and Vmax modes, one of these springs is completely locked to increase the overall

spring rate A spring is an elastic object that stores mechanical energy. In everyday use the term often refers to coil springs, but there are many different spring designs. Modern springs are typically manufactured from spring steel, although some non- ...

of the system. The car also has a front-axle lifting system for clearing road obstacles and steep entry angles.

Wheels

The new GT is the second Ford vehicle to feature optional carbon fiber wheels, after the Shelby Mustang GT350R. In addition to improved strength and rigidity, these wheels weigh less than their forged aluminum counterparts. The wheels have a diameter of 20 inches at the front and rear, and come equipped with

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and larg ...

Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires with codes of 245/35 R 20 for the front and 325/30 R 20 for the rear. The brakes are ventilated carbon-ceramic discs made by

, with six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston calipers at the rear.

Aerodynamics

The most prominent exterior features of the new GT are the open airflow tunnels built into the rear fenders of the car, referred to as the '

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

es'. These large aerodynamic elements, enabled by the compact V6 engine and pushrod suspension design, channel air around the teardrop-shaped cockpit over the rear spoiler for increased downforce. The front end of the GT features a GT40-inspired cutaway nose and vents in the hood that pass oncoming air over the top of the car. The rear features a large diffuser and hollow circular tail lights that expel air taken in by vents built into the flying buttresses. The active rear spoiler of the GT can adjust and adapt to different driving conditions and modes depending on how much downforce is needed. In Track mode, a gurney flap will extend from the trailing edge of the wing to further increase downforce, and the wing will flip vertical to help stop the car under heavy braking.

Performance

The new GT has a claimed top speed of , and has a power to weight ratio of per kilogram. In steady-state cornering on a skidpad, the GT can achieve 1.11 g of lateral acceleration, and the car is capable of braking from to a stop in . Independent acceleration figures are provided below. * : 10.8 seconds at * 0-: 3.0 seconds * 0-: 6.2 seconds * 0-: 10.1 seconds * 0-: 14.5 seconds * 0-: 21.4 seconds At the

Willow Springs International Raceway Willow Springs International Motorsports Park (commonly referred to as Willow Springs) is located in Willow Springs near Rosamond, California, about north of Los Angeles. It is the oldest permanent road course in the United States. Construct ...

, ''

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...

'' test driver

Randy Pobst Randy Franklin Pobst (born June 26, 1957, in Dayton, Ohio), also known as "RFP" or "The Rocket," is an American race car driver and journalist for ''Motor Trend'' magazine. Active in the SCCA World Challenge GT series and the Grand American ...

achieved a

hot lap Hot lap is a term that is associated with some sports. In motor racing A 'hot lap', also called a 'flying lap' or a 'timed lap', is a complete lap around a racetrack that takes place in free practice or qualification, the time of which is recorded. ...

time of 1:23.69 in a 2017 GT, which at the time made it the fourth-fastest road car tested between the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder (1:23.54) and the 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S (1:24.26). After suffering from mechanical issues during an earlier test by automotive magazine '' Car and Driver'', racing driver Billy Johnson set a lap time around

Virginia International Raceway Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Dan ...

of 2:38.62 in a 2017 GT. This places it third overall in Car and Driver's testing history at the circuit, between the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (2:37.3) and the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Weissach (2:37.8).

Production

Production began in December 2016 and is scheduled to continue through 2022, with a planned production rate of one car per day at Multimatic's low-volume assembly facility in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Approximately two hundred 2017 and 2018 year production cars were recalled to fix potential hydraulic leaking and fire risk. The cars produced for the 2017 and 2018 model years are allocated through Ford Performance's vehicle allocation process. The cars produced for the 2019 model year were primarily for buyers unsuccessful in the initial selection process, and the cars produced for the 2020 model year are for new customers.

2020 model year update

For the 2020 model year, the Ford GT received an update that introduced several mechanical upgrades and new special editions. The 3.5 L EcoBoost V6 is now rated at due to gallery-cooled pistons and more powerful

ignition coil An ignition coil (also called a spark coil) is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system that transforms the battery's voltage to the thousands of volts needed to create an electric spark in the spark plugs to ignite the fuel. So ...

s. New engine tuning also results in a 'broader torque band' according to Ford, although peak torque output remains unchanged. The updated GT also comes standard with a new titanium exhaust system developed by

Akrapovič Akrapovič d.d. () is a Slovenian manufacturer of exhaust systems that began in 1990 in the motorcycle market, and expanded into automobile exhausts in 2010. A global exhaust supplier in motorcycle sport, Akrapovič exhausts are used on motorcyc ...

, which saves over the original exhaust. The suspension stiffness in Track mode has also been further increased, and cooling airflow into the flying buttresses has been improved by new vent design in this updated model.

Special editions

Ford GT (2nd generation) coupes Motorworld Munich 1X7A0028

There have been number of special edition series for the new GT, often involving unique liveries, materials, or interior changes. These special editions include: * Competition Series (2017–2018): The closest one can get to the car that won the 2016 Le Mans, with all optional carbon fiber parts fitted, with interior weight savings from deletion of A/C, radio hardware, and storage bins. * '66 Heritage Edition (2017): Matte or metallic black paint with #2 graphics to honor the winning GT40 Mk II at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. * '67 Heritage Edition (2018): Race red paint with #1 graphics to honor the winning GT40 Mk IV at the

1967 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 35th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1967. It was also the seventh round of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship. Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt, driving a Ford Mk IV, won the race afte ...

. * '68–'69 Heritage Edition (2019–2020): Blue and orange

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

livery with #9 (2019) or #6 (2020) graphics to honor the back to back wins at the

and

by the GT40 Mk I. *Liquid Carbon (2020): Exposed carbon fiber body and wheels for the 2020 model year, at an increased price of US$750,000. *'66 Heritage Edition (2021): White, red, and carbon exterior with #98 graphics to honor the GT40 Mk II's win at the

1966 24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

. * '64 Heritage Edition (2022): White with black accents to mimic the livery of the sole remaining GT40 prototype car, the 1964 GT/105. * Alan Mann Heritage Edition (2022): Signature Alan Mann Racing livery in red and gold to tribute to Alan Mann Racing's 1966 Ford GT lightweight experimental prototypes. * Holman Moody Heritage Edition (2022): Gold and red livery to honor the podium-placing Holman Moody GT40 Mk II, chassis no. P/1016. * LM Edition (2022): Painted in Liquid Silver with a choice of either red or blue accents, as tribute to the 2016 Le Mans-winning GT, which wore a red and blue livery.

GT Mk II

A track-day-only version of the new GT, named the GT Mk II, was launched on 4 July 2019 at the

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in late June o ...

. The name pays homage to the original GT40 Mk II race car that won the

. The GT Mk II features many substantial changes from the road car that increase its capabilities on the track. The 3.5 L EcoBoost V6 engine has been tuned and is rated at over , which is cooled by a roof-mounted air intake and new outboard-mounted

intercooler An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines. Internal combustion engines ...

s. The removal of the adjustable ride height system and the stripped-out interior reduces the overall weight of the Mk II by about over the road car. The active spoiler has been replaced by a much larger fixed wing, which in combination with a larger diffuser and new aerodynamic elements results in a 400% increase in downforce over the road car. The GT Mk II uses smaller 19-inch wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport GT slick racing tires, although it shares the GT's carbon ceramic brakes. As a result of these changes, the GT Mk II is not street legal. Only 45 will be built, and at a unit price of US$1.2 million it is the most expensive new Ford ever sold. The Mk II, however, is not sold by Ford but rather directly to customers by Multimatic, the Canadian manufacturer of all GT cars.

GT Mk IV

To commemorate Ford's victory at the

, Ford and Multimatic is building another track only Ford GT inspired by the Ford GT40 Mk IV with 800+ horsepower (according to some estimates) and at a price of $1.7 million. Only 67 of these cars will be built and they will be the last Ford GTs to roll out of production. Many specifications of the car, like the top speed, are currently unavailable at the moment as it's just revealed by Ford.

Racing

Overview

The Ford GT has been campaigned in various racing venues. These include: * A highly modified GT was raced in 2006 and 2007 in Super GT's GT300 class in Japan powered by a 3.5 L Ford Zetec-R engine produced by

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotive industry, ...

in the mid-1990s for

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

. *

Matech Concepts Matech Concepts was an auto racing development firm based in Geneva, Switzerland and founded by Martin Bartek in 2006. The company had made an agreement with Ford Racing to develop the Ford GT sports car for competition, and constructs the FIA GT ...

from Switzerland entered three Ford GTs modified to GT3 class specifications in the FIA GT3 European Championship. Matech won the Teams title in the 2008 Championship. * Atlanta-based Robertson Racing entered a Doran-built Ford GT-R in the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' h ...

GT class (formerly GT2). The team made its first

appearance in 2011, scoring 3rd position overall in the GTE Am Class. * Black Swan Racing entered a Falken Tires-sponsored Ford GT-R in the GT2 class in the

during the 2008 season. * Ford Chip Ganassi Racing formerly ran 4 factory-supported LM-spec Ford GT LM GTE-Pro racecars. Two in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

under the LM GTE-Pro class during the 2016, 2017, & 2018–19 seasons and two in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the GTLM class during the 2016, 2017, 2018, & 2019 seasons. At the end of the 2019 season, Ganassi announced that it would end their factory race program with Ford after four years.

First generation

Ford GT GT1

Ford GT1 Marc VDS Racing Team 40 Silverstone 2011

The Ford GT GT1 is a racing version of the Ford GT developed by

to comply with FIA GT1 rules. The official race debut of the Ford GT1 coincided with the kick-off of the

2009 FIA GT Championship season The 2009 FIA GT Championship season was the thirteenth and final season of the FIA GT Championship for grand tourer cars competing in the GT1 and GT2 categories. The season began 3 May, and ended 25 October after eight races. This was also the fin ...

in Silverstone. For the

2010 FIA GT1 World Championship season The 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship was the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, a motor racing competition reserved for FIA GT1 cars. The championship was a replacement for the FIA GT Championship which had been held annually from 1997 to 200 ...

four cars were built and fielded by two teams: Matech Competition and

Marc VDS Racing Team Marc VDS Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team founded by Belgian owner Marc-Oswald van der Straten-Ponthoz, descendant of the founder of the Stella Artois brewery. The team competes in motorcycle racing in the Moto2 World Championship under t ...

. Three cars competed in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans race, with two (the number 70 car run by the Marc VDS Racing Team and the number 61 car run by

) retiring early on. The third car retired later in the race. For the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season, Matech left the series which left Marc VDS running the four cars during the season, two under the Marc VDS Racing Team name and the other two cars under the name of Belgian Racing.

Ford GT GT3

Blancpain Endurance Series - Ford GT - 003

The Ford GT was also homologated for the FIA GT3 rules by Matech Concepts. The Ford GT GT3 is involved in numerous championships including the FIA GT3 European Championship, FIA GT1 World Championship,

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

, and others. The GT3 version is slower than the GT1 version (rated at around instead of ) and features different bodywork.

Second generation

Ford GT LM GTE-Pro by Ford Chip Ganassi Racing

On 12 June 2015, at Le Mans, it was announced that Ford will return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 with a factory-supported, four-car effort operating as Ford Chip Ganassi Racing with the LM-spec Ford GT LM GTE-Pro. The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing cars campaigned in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the

. The car debuted at the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona on January 30–31 finishing seventh and ninth in class. On June 19, 2016, the #68 Ford GT of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing finished first at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM GTE-Pro class; the victory marked fifty years after Ford won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, where they came first, second, and third with the GT40. In the 2016 6 Hours of Fuji and the 6 Hours of Shanghai, both the Ford GT's finished 1–2 at both races, the #67 winning both and the #66 coming second in both. In the opening WEC race at Silverstone, the #67 Ford GT took victory. Two races later, on June 19, 2017, the #67 Ford GT of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing finished runner up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM GTE-Pro class; this time fifty years after the second Le Mans Race win in 1967.

= Race victories

References

External links

*
Motor Trend GT Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford Gt GT Coupés Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Retro-style automobiles Roadsters Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States Cars introduced in 2003 2010s cars 2020s cars

First generation (2005–2006)

Development

Naming difficulties

Production

Heritage edition

Sales and marketing

Performance and engineering

Fuel consumption

Other media

Standing mile speed record

Ford GTX1

Second generation (2016–2022)

Development

Overview

Powertrain

Chassis

Suspension

Wheels

Aerodynamics

Performance

Production

2020 model year update

Special editions

GT Mk II

GT Mk IV

Racing

Overview

First generation

Ford GT GT1

Ford GT GT3

Second generation

Ford GT LM GTE-Pro by Ford Chip Ganassi Racing

= Race victories

See also

References

External links