The Story
Ford’s supercar made a triumphant Le Mans-winning return, but did it beat Ferrari in the supercar stakes?.
Astonishing drama and performanceGruff engine, aloof feel, rough on the roadThere’s an intriguing story about the birth of the second-generation Ford GT road car, and it only came to light a year after it was unveiled in 2016. Because initially Ford wasn't going to build a new GT at all. For one whole year, Ford tried and failed to come up with an ultimate racing Mustang to beat Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette and Aston Martin at Le Mans. Also planned was a road-going version to coincide with the race project and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company’s victory at the famous 24-hour race.
Eventually Ford realised the car it had been attempting to engineer bore little resemblance to a road going Mustang and thus, the marketing would never work. Ironic as that's exactly what Ford has now produced in the Mustang GT3 and its roadgoing Mustang GTD counterpart. At that point back in 2013, though, a top secret skunkworks project to build an all-new GT racer and road car, headquartered deep in the basement of Ford’s Dearborne Michigan headquarters, took precedence.
The road car that eventually went into production in 2017 took a while coming, then. It reached the point where some cynics accused the GT of being mildly off the pace beside contemporary rivals like the McLaren 720S, especially with a price tag over two times higher. But the Ford GT that did emerge is still a compelling machine in its own unique ways, even if it never quite lived up to the supercar establishment-shattering legacy of the 2005 GT it succeeded.
Yes this is the same Ecoboost unit as found in many Ford trucks, and no it doesn’t have the exotic voice of the engines found in European rivals (or the previous Ford GT, in fact), but when has a utilitarian powertrain ever stopped an American supercar in the past?.
The gearbox is a seven-speed dual clutch that’s physically integrated into the rear suspension and makes up part of the rear subframe’s physical structure. This is a layout that doesn’t only feature on some of the greatest supercars of all time like GMA T.50 and Ferrari F50, but is also a key design element of the fastest racers in the world, be that Le Mans or Formula 1.
At the core of the GT lies a bespoke carbonfibre tub with pushrod suspension front and rear, plus a seven speed dual-clutch gearbox that’s integrated within the rear suspension. All the body panels are made from carbonfibre, the vast majority of its metal components are made from aluminium. All-up it weighs just 1385kg dry, so call it around 1450kg with fluids. This makes the GT lighter than any of its more obvious rivals from Ferrari, McLaren et al, says Ford.
The brakes are carbon ceramic all round, and the wheels are 20 x 8.5-inch forged alloys at the front with 20 x 11.5-inch units at the rear (full carbon fibre wheels of the same size can be specified for quite a few pounds extra, though Ford won't disclose how many - other than to potential customers). Tyres are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, 325/30s at the rear rear, 245/35s up front.
Why It Matters
Astonishing drama and performanceGruff engine, aloof feel, rough on the roadThere’s an intriguing story about the birth of the second-generation Ford GT road car, and it only came to light a year after it was unveiled in 2016.
CarMotion Daily’s Take
Torque is the overriding force at work, picking you up and pushing you to the next corner – which the Ford will slice through, a squeeze of steering input enough to tack through sweeping curves and a roll of the wrists for tighter turns. Watch this space over the coming weeks. Markets rarely reward single announcements — execution over the next two to four quarters is what closes the gap between press release and customer. How this lands depends less on the announcement itself and more on the rollout, dealer support, and after-sales story behind it. Specifics on pricing, availability, and regional rollout will tell us whether this moves from headline to delivery. Independent verification and follow-up coverage from rival outlets tend to firm up the picture within days.
📝 Source & Copyright Notice
This story was first reported by Evo-GN. For the full article with original photography and complete coverage, visit the source: Read the full story at Evo-GN →
