This monstrous beauty was inspired by its distant relative, the GT40, which won the Le Mans four years in a row some 40 years before this made it into production. Ford wanted to bring the soul of the GT40 back and put it in a modern, road-legal car.
Unfortunately, the company couldn’t use the GT40 name due to an existing trademark and some failed negotiations with the company that owned it. Thus, the carmaker settled for “GT.”
Presented in 2002 at the North American International Auto Show, it entered production in the fall of 2004, with around 4,038 units produced through September 2006. Around 2,011 units were produced for the last model year, and this is one of them.
The beast gets power from a 5.4 L rear-mounted modular V8 engine, which is factory-rated at 550 hp (558 ps) and produces 678 Nm (500 lb-ft) of torque. However, this particular car got a supercharger upgrade, presumably getting around 50 extra horses thanks to it.
Additionally, the car also features an aftermarket exhaust and diffuser.
Compared to the GT40, which was 40.5 inches high, the GT is a bit taller at 43 inches, but keeps the iconic doors with the roof cutouts, so you might want to watch your head if you ever take one for a spin.
But that aside, how could you not want to go full throttle if you got your hands on a car inspired by a racing legend that won the Le Mans four years in a row? Apparently, Max from AutoTopNL thought the same.
After giving a tour of the car, it was time to drive it like he stole it, even though the car was actually rented. Nonetheless, with the sun setting and a clear Autobahn that left room for an adrenaline-inducing ride, flooring it was a no-brainer.
With warmed-up tires and a beastly V8 to play with, Max hit the magic number of 200 mph (320 kph), but didn’t take any chances with the brakes and decided to pretty much call it a day.
You can catch more than a glimpse of this black-and-silver American classic in the video below.
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