As a carmaker, you can make a lot of money for years on end just by releasing special editions of a high profile car. Do in rapid enough succession, stick a huge price tag of them and you can watch the swelling of the bank account. Take Ford and its GT, for instance.
Launched in 2004 as a tribute to the Le Mans-winning GT40, the GT was supposed to be a limited run only, ending two years after its was launched. In 2016, Ford thought it could make more money off of it and revived it for a second generation. The Blue Oval has been in the business of launching special model after special model of the GT ever since.
The latest variant of the car is presented this week at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK. We’re talking about a track-only version of the supercar that will be made in limited numbers.
Packing 700 hp from the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine, the car has specifically been engineered to be used on the track, but with no regard to “race series rules, regulations and limitations.”
“The GT Mk II unleashes the full performance potential of the Ford GT without any artificial performance limitations dictated by racing sanctioning bodies,” said in a statement Hau Thai-Tang, Ford chief product development and purchasing officer.
“It’s the closest GT owners can get to the Le Mans-winning performance and exhilarating feeling of crossing the finish line in the Ford GT race car.”
Built by Ford Performance and Multimatic, the car comes with significantly improved aerodynamics courtesy of the deployment of dual-element rear wing, new front racing splitter and diffuser, and new fender louvers.
With all these parts on, the GT is said to develop 400 percent more downforce than the series model. Add to that the fact that the track version comes with a lower weight, and the performance numbers should be impressive.
Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing what those figures are, as Ford did not release any.
The car will be produced in a limited run of only 45 units, each priced from $1.2 million.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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