The Ford GT began life as a highly successful Le Mans winner back in the 1960s, when it was called the GT40. The 40, so named for its height in inches as per the required rules, packed large displacement Ford V8 engines, making it stiff competition for rival brand, Ferrari. This clearly worked – the model won the Le Mans 24-hour race four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969.
Fast forward to 2002, and a new GT40 concept was unveiled at Detroit, sporting the same shape and colour schemes as the original but with bigger, wider proportions. Three prototypes were displayed in 2003 and production began in 2004.
As a limited edition, high-performance model, the Ford GT of the 2000s had to have all the looks and style of its successful Le Mans-winning forerunner, but be street-legal and practical enough to attract Ford enthusiasts. With this in mind, Ford went for a mid-engine, two-seater layout with manual transmission and a host of unique technologies. The car sprints from 0-60mph in under 4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 212mph.
Demand for the Ford GT initially outpaced supply, with the first private sale going to Jon Shirley, a former Microsoft exec, for a cool $557,000. 100 cars were intended for export to Europe, to go on sale at local dealerships such as Peoples Ford. Production, however, ended early with just 4,038 of the planned 4,500 being made.
Despite its short production run, the Ford GT remains one of the most iconic cars of the 21st century thanks to its fantastic forerunner, the GT40, which you can catch in action here:
by Luke
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