The Ford GT-40 was the response to Ferrari when their owner, Enzo refused to sell his company to Henry Ford II. The GT-40 was initially developed as an answer to Enzo Ferrari after the deal with him went south. Henry Ford II was Enraged so he commissioned his racing development team to create a “Ferrari-beater” to decimate Ferrari on the track. Their prototype was initially developed mostly by the Lola company, this prototype didn’t do so well when they took it to France in 1964 all of the cars they took broke down. The man they took with them to ride the sinking ship with then was the Texan chicken farmer and American hero Carroll Shelby. Due to the fact that Shelby’s Daytona coupe won its class the same year Henry figured that if anyone could help him beat Ferrari….it was him. Shelby and his team immediately started tinkering on the MK1 they took it to Willow springs to measure airflow around the car and figured out it was losing about 75 horsepower just on airflow. So they went back to the shop to redesign the inlets and outlets. They put some big old breaks on it so it could stop faster for longer, then Shelby did what Shelby did best he turned the motor to make over 450 horsepower.

Then they took the GT40 to the most hallowed of all endurance races the 2000 kilometers of Daytona. Nobody knew how the GT was going to perform the Ferrari won the previous year and the year Ford was competing, Ferrari’s race car was brand new. To beat Ferrari at Daytona would be the greatest boost to moral. Luckily for Shelby’s team the Ferrari blew a tire which let the GT take the win, sadly this would be the only team for the season. Even worse Ferrari  won Le Man that year….again. Henry ford was getting a little antsy he invested all this time  and money and still hasn’t pulled a win while Enzo Ferrari is chilling at Maranello laughing to himself every time he goes to sleep. Ford said to his team that he had to win. Shelby redesigned the GT AGAIN this time they ripped out that puny 5 litre and threw in a Goliath 7 litre V8, the 427 V8 was good for about 485 hp. The 427 was the same engine ford was using in NASCAR…. it was American as f***. Shelby wasn’t the only team racing for Ford, due to Henry’s impatience he got Holman Moody and the guys in-charge of Ford’s NASCAR program to race as well. Henry thought that having another team would stimulate a little bit of competition increasing his chances of beating Ferrari and guess what……..he was right. The 4 teams fought hard all season, on the day of the final race Ford had to remind them “You all are here to beat Ferrari. Settle your differences on your own time.”

As the green flag dropped on race day the GTs where off to a great start, by 3-am that morning 3 of Shelby’s cars where in the lead while Ferrari suffered damages on their most dominant cars. Hours and laps went by each more tense than the last. Could ford finally win? At 4-pm two of Shelby’s cars and one Holman Moody crossed the finish line in a triangle formation. Ford had finally beat Ferrari, they also proved that you don’t have to be European to win at the tracks but you could be as American as f***. Small fact: The 1966 Le Man was Bruce McLaren’s first win at an international race

In 2005, 60 years since the Ferrari deal fell through and to commemorate Ford’s crowning achievement,  the GT nameplate was revived at the Detroit auto show. The reason Ford made this car was to beat Ferrari on the streets, which it did the GT destroyed Ferrari’s super cars like the 360 Modena and the F430 .This GT made 550hp from a supercharged 5.4 litre V8 (some people thought the engine was the same as the lightning’s but the GT’s was all aluminum) this GT was in production from 2004-2006 and in its short time it reminded the world that Ford could build a stellar and purely American super car.

 

In January of 2015 the new Ford GT was introduced at the Detroit auto show, people lost their damned minds. To be honest its the coolest car I’ve ever seen…I mean it has flying buttresses. The new GT is powered by a Twin-Turbo Eco-boost V6 that makes 650 hp. The car is almost entirely made of carbon fibre weighing in at almost 3000 pounds. It has a wing that deploys at 75 mph to increase down-force. If you wanted to take this car to the track you don’t have to worry about installing a cage because it already has one. This thing is a real race car for the road. The New GT has its exhaust outlets in the damn taillights. It not be a coincidence that Ford picked 2016 to launch the GT because it would be the 50 year anniversary of Ford winning at Le Man and beating  Ferrari.

Ford re-entered Le Man the  same year to Ferrari who is the boss. The weight of Ford’s name was on the team’s shoulders. Miraculously the two GTs locked out the front-row in qualifiers with Ferrari close behind in third. The stage was set for total war. After the start of the race Ford and Ferrari both fighting for first battling mechanical issues and other cars along the way. At certain points it looked like Ford would not be able to gasp victory that day. With 4 and a half ours left the number 68 GT pulled off a pass on the leading Ferrari. A few laps later the Ferrari spun giving the GT a lot of breathing room all they had to do was hold on to the end and then as the checkered flag waved the number 68 GT crossed the finish line. Ford had won.

 

That is all you really needed to know how the legend of the Ford GT was born.

BTW: Check out the Car-Guy Dictionary to learn a thing or two.