Production of a small number Ford GT’s began in 2003, to coincide with Ford Motor Co.’s 100th annviersary. Full-scale production didn’t begin until 2004. While far from a big seller, the GT has been profitable for Ford, spokesman John Harmon said. The company sold about 1,300 GTs last year.

It’s greatest value for Ford, however, has been as a “halo vehicle” advertising Ford’s performance engineering capabilities, he said. The GT has been featured on the covers of at least 40 magazines worldwide, he said. “It’s a car you do occasionally,” Harmon said, “not a car that needs to be in our line-up continuously.”

The role of Ford’s “performance flagship” will be taken over by the Shelby GT500, a high-performance version of the Ford Mustang. It is scheduled to enter production this summer. That car is expected to cost about $40,000, far less than the Ford GT.

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Production of a small number Ford GT’s began in 2003, to coincide with Ford Motor Co.’s 100th annviersary. Full-scale production didn’t begin until 2004. While far from a big seller, the GT has been profitable for Ford, spokesman John Harmon said. The company sold about 1,300 GTs last year.

It’s greatest value for Ford, however, has been as a “halo vehicle” advertising Ford’s performance engineering capabilities, he said. The GT has been featured on the covers of at least 40 magazines worldwide, he said. “It’s a car you do occasionally,” Harmon said, “not a car that needs to be in our line-up continuously.”

The role of Ford’s “performance flagship” will be taken over by the Shelby GT500, a high-performance version of the Ford Mustang. It is scheduled to enter production this summer. That car is expected to cost about $40,000, far less than the Ford GT.

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The mid-engined car was a spiritual successor to the Ford GT40, taking from it some styling cues, such as doors that cut into the roofline, but little else. All angles and glass, the Ford GT90 was the first Ford to display the company’s “New Edge” design philosophy. The GT90 was built around a honeycomb-section aluminum monocoque and its body panels were moulded from carbon fiber.

The GT90 was built by a small team in just over six months and, as a result, borrowed many components from another high profile stablemate, the Jaguar XJ220. The all-round double wishbone suspension and the five-speed manual gearbox came from the Jaguar, while the engine was from another member of the Ford family. The GT90’s 48-valve V12 was a six-litre engine which, if Ford had ever produced it in volume, might have produced up to 720 hp (537 kW), thanks to four Garrett Systems T2 turbochargers.

The engine was based on the Ford Modular engine. Two V8’s were cut down, removing a grand total of four cylinders between the two. After welding, this yielded a 90-degree V-12, with 90.2 mm bore and 77.3 mm stroke. It is one of the cars that can be driven in the game Need for Speed II. It is also available to drive in Gran Turismo 2, Gran Turismo HD, Sega GT 2002, Ford Racing 2, Ford Racing 3, Project Gotham Racing 3 and TOCA Race.

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The 2006 Ford GT offers a limited-edition Tungsten Grey model to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original Ford GTs placing first, second, and third at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. A limited-edition Heritage is also offered painted Heritage Blue with Epic Orange stripe to commemorate one of the racing Ford GTs from the past.

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Also of importance is the fact that the winning GT40 from 1968, driven by Rodriguez and Bianchi, was the exact car to win again in ‘69 at the hands of Ickx and Oliver. The first ever repeat victor by the same exact car. The only other time the feat has been accomplished was in 1996-’97 by the Joest-Porsche Team when they ran Porsche-powered spyders to consecutive victories.

The winning car from 1966 (the first Ford victory for the GT40 in three attempts) was driven by the duo of Amon and McLaren. The win of 1967 was captured by the fierce American legends of Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt. Both the ‘66 and ‘67 winners were powered by the 7L version of the Ford push-rod, big block V8. The following two GT40 victories were fitted with detuned to 5L V8s to fit new rules for smaller engines to decrease speeds as the 7L big blocks were tipping 230mph on the Mulsanne Straight.

The 6,982cc displacement of the 1967 winner was the largest displacement engine ever to win overall at Le Mans until Jaguar won in 1988 and 1990 with 6,999cc V12s. In contrast, the smallest displacement engine ever to capture an overall win at Le Mans was the 1,995cc, 12-cylinder unit the Ferrari 166 MM driven by Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon carried in 1949.

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