The Ford GT has come back from the dead, but only for a little while. FoMoCo was supposed to completely kill it last year, unveiling a final road-going version. Now it looks like they have changed their minds. But only temporarily.
It was October 2022 when Ford officially presented the last street-legal Ford GT, the LM Edition. A tribute to the 2016 Le Mans-winning number 68 GT40, that particular version was specifically designed as a farewell of the third generation of the Ford GT. The carmaker had previously embarked on a 1,350-unit production run.
But then the 2023 Ford GT Mk IV track version showed up, paying tribute to the original Mk IV that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in December.
Ford was planning to put an end to the production of the GT by the end of 2022. But things did not go according to plan. Instead, Multimac built 18 examples in January and another 12 in February for a total of 30 units in 2023, Ford Authority reports. So it obvious that production did not stop in 2022.
The reason Ford had to change their plans is unknown. They might have needed more time to complete the run originally set. Also unknown is the type of GTs Multimac built in the first two months of the year at the Markham plant in Ontario, Canada.
Photo: Ford
Ford had to build a total of 20 GT LM Edition examples, with production set to begin last fall and come to an end before the end of the year. Meanwhile, they had to roll off the assembly line 67 GT Mk IVs, a procedure that should have been completed no later than the first quarter of 2023. So the 30 models built this year might be of the GT Mk IV series.
By now, production has officially stopped. The final Ford GT, chassis number N260-J211, was delivered to its owner in Detroit, earlier this year, to join a private collection. The car was a Heritage Edition version, finished in Antimatter Blue, equipped with graphite wheels and red brake calipers, plus plenty of carbon fiber.
It is the last of the 1,350 Ford GTs that the carmaker produced over the course of six years, following its unveiling at the 2015 North American International Auto Show. The car entered production in 2017, after a decade-long hiatus from the first generation.
The Ford GT is powered by a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 engine mated to a seven speed Getrag dual-clutch transmission. At first, it came with 647 horsepower (656 PS) and 550 lb-ft (746 Nm) of torque. But for the 2020 model year, Ford put some extra oomph in it, taking it to 660 horsepower (669 PS).
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