Ford Hunts Ferrari, Again

Ford Hunts Ferrari, Again

Hoping to rekindle its dominance over Ferrari at Le Mans in the late '60s, Ford will build the 500-hp 500-ft.-lb. GT40 supercar.

Ford Motor Co. introduced the new GT40 concept car for the first time at the 2002 Detroit auto show. Less than a month later, Bill Ford, chairman and chief executive officer, announced that Ford will build a production version of the GT40 to help celebrate the carmaker's 100th anniversary in 2003. Cool.

GT40s finished first, second and third at Le Mans in June 1966.

The original low-slung midengine GT40 won the fabled 24 Hours of Le Mans four years in a row--1966, '67, '68 and '69--after a failed attempt to join forces with Ferrari. Once Henry Ford II knew he couldn't join 'em, he figured he'd whip 'em. And so was born the GT40 Ferrari hunter, and a rich heritage to boot.

Conceptual Specifications
The 2003 GT40 will be more than 18 in. longer and nearly 4 in. taller than its predecessor. The new car joins the Thunderbird, Mustang and Forty-Nine concept as part of Ford's Living Legends brand. The car will continue to be a midengine design and its menacing nose will bear a striking resemblance to the original. The large rear-facing openings in the hood draw air away from a front-mounted radiator. The headlights are made up of fiberoptic ribbon elements and HID projector beams.

The midmounted 5.4-liter supercharged V8 makes 500 hp and 500 ft.-lb. of torque.

In the rear, simple round taillights and "double barrel" exhaust tips provide the finishing touches beneath a functional ducktail spoiler. The front 6-spoke alloy wheels wear 18-in.-dia. tires, the rears 19-in. The wheels' hub design hearkens back to the Halibrand or BRM knockoffs that came with the original car. Power comes from a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 producing 500 hp and 500 ft.-lb. of torque. It will drive through a 6-speed manual transmission. All of this machinery resides within an all-aluminum space frame that carries a separate aluminum engine cradle behind the bulkhead. The suspension pieces are fabricated from highly polished lightweight aluminum.

This polished-aluminum A-arm looks like it could be made of sterling silver.

Take a close look at the glorious photographs on these three pages to get a better idea of what the GT40 was all about, and what it is yet to become.

Here's a youthful Carroll Shelby with an original GT40. He won Le Mans in 1959 in an Aston Martin (which Ford owns today). So he was asked (back then) to help Ford with its GT40 campaign against Ferrari. Of course, ol' Shel was more than pleased to get his signature 427-cu.-in. Ford V8 on the track to proclaim, "Ferrari's ass is mine."

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