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2021 Ford GT “Heritage Edition” Pays Tribute to a GT40 Raced by Ken Miles

This Sunday at 11:30 am EDT, the Ford Motor Company prepares to show off yet another special edition of the GT alongside a yet-to-be-detailed variant of the twin-turbo V6 supercar. The one featured in the video teaser at the end of the story is called Heritage Edition, and that translates to an appearance package.
2021 Ford GT Heritage Edition 10 photos
Photo: Ford
2021 Ford GT Heritage Edition2021 Ford GT Heritage Edition2021 Ford GT Heritage Edition1966 Ford GT Mk II raced by Ken Miles1966 Ford GT Mk II raced by Ken Miles1966 Ford GT Mk II raced by Ken Miles1966 Ford GT Mk II raced by Ken Miles1966 Ford GT Mk II raced by Ken Miles1966 Ford GT Mk II raced by Ken Miles
As you can tell from the screenshots in the photo gallery, the white exterior is complemented by red, a little black, the F O R D script from the good ol’ days, and a number. Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby drove #98 to victory at the Daytona 24 Hours in 1966, the first race of the World Sportscar Championship that year.

That car – the GT40 Mk II – differs from the first iteration in a few notable ways. For starters, the engine leveled up to a 7.0-liter leviathan from the Ford Galaxie and the transmission switched from a ZF five-speed manual to a Kar Kraft four-speed stick shift. Come 1967, FoMoCo had further upgraded the GT40 Mk II.

Under the skin, the Heritage Edition is likely to carry over the output of the 2020 model. The Blue Oval improved the EcoBoost V6 to 660 horsepower (669 PS) with the help of new ignition coils and gallery-cooled pistons as well as a lighter exhaust system from Akrapovic. Nine pounds lighter, that is, thanks to titanium.

Limited to 250 units per year, the GT isn’t actually made by Ford. To the point, Canadian corporation Multimatic puts the car together in Markham, Ontario. Multimatic has such a big say on this project that the GT Mk II track-only specification is sold directly by Multimatic, not the Ford Motor Company.

Production of the mid-engine work of automotive art began in December 2016, and last time we’ve heard, the Blue Oval intends to pull the plug in 2022. Two years ago, production was extended by 350 units to a grand total of 1,350 cars.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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