A big part of us dearly wanted the Blue Oval to have a factory race program for the Ford GT. Visions of four straight Le Mans victories danced in our heads, and we're sure Corvette Racing would love to have competed against someone besides themselves the past few years in ALMS. Alas, production of the GT supercar ended near the end of 2006 without so much as a single competitive lap. In the past couple years, however, a few privateer teams have tried their hands, including the Black Swan Racing and Falken, which ran in ALMS this past season. While neither had much success taking on Porsche and Ferrari in GT2, Matech Racing's three-car program dominated the European FIA GT3 by winning more than half the races and capturing the team championship in only its second year. Building on that success, Matech has announced plans to move up to GT1 next year with an upgraded version of the Ford GT race car.
We've become familiar with Jason Heffner's creations over the past few years, from his insanely powerful Lamborghini Gallardos to mindblowingly fast Ford GTs. For his latest project, Heffner has teamed up with Ford GT chief designer Camilo Pardo for a special edition version of the car that looks as good as it is fast. Visually, the American supercar gets a racing inspired paint scheme and graphics, flat black BBS wheels and a new rear bumper from Classic Design Concepts. Inside, the car gets a chrome shift ball, wide-shaft shifter and aluminum seat grommets. Under the bonnet, the GT is blessed with Heffner's twin-turbo treatment as well as a Camilo-designed billet aluminum intake and black valve covers. Horsepower is rated at north of 900 and the car is capable of topping 200 mph in under 20 seconds while passing through the 1/4 mile at over 150 mph. There's a press release after the jump with more details and high-res photos in the gallery below over which you have our permission to ogle.
A little over two years ago we had the chance to spend some time at the track with Steve Millen and his race-prepped Ford GT before the team embarked on its fifth excursion to New Zealand to run in the Targa Rally. Last year, the team wasn't able to compete due to health issues with a member of the Stillen consortium, but this year they're back and the orange GT is meaner than ever. For the 2006 campaign, Stillen built up the Ford GT in a few months, equipping the mid-engine supercar with a performance exhaust, catalytic converter delete pipes, AP Racing front brakes, Penske shocks, a full cage and MOMO racing seats and harnesses. This year, they've tweaked the suspension, upgraded the brakes front and rear, added a set of Nordskog gauges and a GPS speedometer, along with pulling a few more ponies out of the supercharged 5.4-liter V8 and sending the additional grunt through an AP Racing clutch and a lower final drive ratio. The Stillen Ford GT will battle it with everything from Evos to Porsches over 38 stages run on closed public roads, and according to Millen's navigator, they'll be providing updates throughout the race.
Motor Trend is reporting in its October 2008 issue that Ford has decided to delay the Fusion GT, an EcoBoost-powered super sedan producing upwards of 340 horsepower. The original plan was to have the GT model arrive at the tail end of the current Fusion's product cycle as a low-volume, super niche send off to the successful mid-sizer before it merges with the European EUCD platform that underpins the Mondeo. The problem is that Ford is planning a big roll-out for EcoBoost engines across its brands and there may not be enough to spare for the Fusion GT. MT is now saying that the Fusion GT will debut around 2012 after the next-generation sedan debuts on the European platform and the automaker's ability to pump out turbocharged, direct-inject engines is up to speed. The good news is that the spiritual successor to the Taurus SHO has not been cancelled altogether, and by 2012 we should be able to drive it.
The Ford GT went from concept to production in record time thanks to companies like ROUSH and Saleen that have niche manufacturing capabilities. Saleen handled the assembly of the GT in its 200,000-sq ft facility in Troy, MI, and whether it was part of the deal or just a thank you from Ford, Steve Saleen ended up owning a pre-production Ford GT, one of only nine built. There are some differences from the production version, including a 4.6-liter Mustang Cobra V8 that has been bored out to 5.4-liters, as well as a unique supercharger system made specifically for the car. The bad news is that its pre-production status means it can't be registered as a street legal vehicle, so this Ford GT will most likely be relegated to a collector's garage.
The Ford GT is on the short list of coolest cars in the 21st century, with up to 600 horsepower, killer retro looks, and Ferrari F430-beating athleticism. Buyers were more than happy to accept a limited edition Ford supercar, but many owners were less than thrilled with Ford's corporate key and fob. While it sounds a bit petty, sharing a key with an F-150 just doesn't scream exotic track star.
The creative key kit crafters over at ExotiCARe have remedied the situation with a limited edition kit that turns your pedestrian keys into a car starter worthy of a Ford GT. The easy to install kit is nothing more than silver-finish covers for your existing keys, which doesn't exactly seem like $295 well-spent, but for those who can afford a $175,000 sports car it may be a deal. ExotiCARe is only making 350 of the kits, so there is an exclusivity factor, as well. Is $295 too much for nothing more than key decoration that you have to assemble yourself?
It should come as no big surprise to any of our regular readers that this blogger is a big fan of Italian supercars. But although it was built to show up the Italian greats in tribute to a race car that did the same decades prior, the Ford GT remains an undeniably cool car, a supercar that seems to have been milled from a solid block of billet aluminum. Unfortunately, Ford stopped building them over a year ago, leaving the myriad special-edition Mustangs to fight it out for the top of the Blue Oval totem pole. But the market holds plenty of GTs for those still looking for the butchest sportscar around.
This, however, is significantly more special: a 2006 Ford GT, black on black with white racing stripes. The car is brand new with only 39 miles on the odometer and has never been titled, which would make the lucky buyer the original owner despite the car being long out of production. If that still hasn't enticed you, check (a) your pulse and (b) the struts over the engine, where you'll find the signature of one Steve Saleen, the legendary Ford tuner whose company was partly responsible for the GT's assembly. With the highest of 18 bids sitting at $189,000 and less than two days to go before the auction ends, interested parties better start bidding to hit the undisclosed reserve price.
The Brooklands-based tuning firm, Avro Motor Cars, has partnered up with Roush Technologies to offer up a run of ten limited-edition Ford GTs that not only get a fresh coat of orange metallic paint and a some matte-black details, but an extra helping of power. The 720 Mirage spells out its claim to fame in its name, with 720 horses coaxed from the modified V8. Utilizing a larger Whipple supercharger, an Accufab throttle body, inlet sleeve and X-pipe exhaust, the 720 unleashes its namesake at 6,950 rpm, with peak torque output of 627 lb.-ft. coming on at 4,800 rpm. The suspension has been modified with KW Variant 3 adjustable coilovers that drop the limited edition whip by 25mm, while AP six-piston calipers clamp onto drilled and slotted rotors courtesy of Stillen. There's no word on pricing, but we'd guess that if you tacked on a few more zeros to the GT's 220 mph top speed, you'd be pretty close to the sticker.
