The first fully-homologated production Ford GT supercar to be officially imported by Ford Motor Company into Europe, is to remain in the company's ownership and become part of its Essex-based Ford Heritage Collection of historically significant vehicles. There it joins two original Ford GT40s, both of which have been owned by Ford since they were built in 1964 and 1969. "Only 101 Ford GTs are being imported officially by Ford to Europe and, of these, only 28 are destined for UK customers," explained Ford of Britain chairman, Roger Putnam.

"Given Ford's proud and successful motorsport heritage over the past 102 years, it is entirely appropriate that the first of these new supercars joins the Ford Heritage Collection. There it takes its rightful place alongside our original GT40s, plus some other historically important cars, including the Ford Escort in which Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm won the London-Mexico World Cup Rally in 1970," he added.

Built at Ford Motor Company's Wixom plant in Michigan, USA, the 2005 Ford GT owes much of its design concept to those original cars. And with 550bhp on tap from its 5.4 litre supercharged V8 engine, the Ford GT has a top speed of 205mph, making it the fastest standard production car ever built by Ford.

Although some race-tuned GT40s were capable of exceeding that figure, road-going versions would achieve a maximum speed of around 160mph.

Those early cars were never officially named GT40 by Ford. They too were known as Ford GTs until the day someone realised that they stood only 40 inches tall - hence they were nicknamed GT40. And that nickname stuck.

Today's £120,900 Ford GT is a little taller than the original cars but, at 44 inches, is still 12 inches shorter than a current generation Ford Fiesta.

In 1968 a new road-going version of the Ford GT40 cost £7,540 - the equivalent then of five Ford Escorts plus three Cortina estates plus a Corsair 2000. The official Ford advert for the GT40 at that time described boot space as "laughable" and petrol consumption as "wicked"!

When Ford announced in 2003 that it was to make 101 examples of the new Ford GT cars available for sale officially in the European market, that number was not chosen at random. It was the same number of GT40s originally built in the UK by Ford in the 1960s. Within weeks, the company was inundated with enquiries from potential customers. In the UK alone, some 800 people were noted as serious intended purchasers for the new supercar.

A little later this month the first of the batch of 28 UK cars will be delivered to their owners. From the production plant in the USA, officially imported European cars are shipped to Bremerhaven in Germany and from there to a homologation centre established by Ford and engineering partner Roush at the Nürburgring where the changes necessary to meet European legislation are made to the cars. Each car is extensively road and track-appraised by a dedicated team before being delivered.

The new Ford GT joins the significant Ford Heritage Collection which contains around 85 vehicles and items of Ford memorabilia. The oldest car in the collection is a 1910 Model T, built in the USA. The collection also features Trafford Park, Manchester-built Model Ts and several significant pre and post-war Dagenham-built models as well as vehicles produced at Halewood on Merseyside, Langley in Berkshire and Southampton in Hampshire. Milestone vehicles include the oldest-surviving Transit van from 1965 and the very last models produced of the Cortina, Capri, Sierra Cosworth, RS200 and Escort ranges. Plus the first Ford Racing Puma and first Focus RS.

Unusual items of memorabilia include a Merlin V12 aero engine, one of 33,000 built by Ford for the Air Ministry during World War Two at a specially-established factory at Urmston in Manchester. These engines were fitted to a variety of wartime aeroplanes including the Lancaster and Mosquito.

[source: newspress.co.uk]

"Only 101 Ford GTs are being imported officially by Ford to Europe and, of these, only 28 are destined for UK customers," explained Ford of Britain chairman, Roger Putnam.

2006 Ford GT Heritage Limited Edition

Text & Photos courtesy Ford Motor Company

08-22-2005

Evokes Glory of Le Mans Victories

* 2006 Ford GT ‘Heritage’ livery commemorates Le Mans victories in 1968 and 1969.
* Heritage Blue and Epic Orange paint scheme recalling the JW Automotive/American Gulf Oil-sponsored Ford GT racers.
* 2006 marks the 40 th anniversary of the beginning of Fords’ four-year domination at Le Mans .

On display at Concorso Italiano, amidst a sea of red-painted competitors, a blue and orange-striped Ford GT rises above the rest, just as it did in 1968 and 1969 capturing victory at Le Mans.

New for 2006, the limited-edition Ford GT ‘Heritage’ paint livery harkens back to the JW Automotive/American Gulf Oil-sponsored Le Mans-winning Ford GT racer. This unique paint scheme, one of the most memorable looks in Ford racing history, features a Heritage Blue with Epic Orange-striped exterior and four white ‘roundels’ allowing customers to apply the number of their choice.

“We’re very proud to offer the 2006 Ford GT in these timeless colors to celebrate our historic racing achievements and the high-performance and innovative technology behind our supercar,” said Carter Balkcom, Ford GT marketing manager. “The blue and orange livery is one of the most memorable paint schemes to ever be displayed on a race car. The JW Automotive American Gulf Oil Ford GT P/1075 is an iconic race car being one of only a few cars to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice.”

2006 also marks the 40 th anniversary of Ford’s remarkable four-year winning streak of the 24 Hours of Le Mans . Earlier this year, Ford announced another special exterior color, Tungsten Grey available with Quick Silver stripes, would be available on the 2006 Ford GT to commemorate that first sterling victory.

But Ford isn’t just celebrating its past. The company is building on its heritage with its Special Vehicle Team (SVT) enhancing the performance of Ford products now and into the future.

“Sweeping Le Mans proved to the world that Ford Motor Company could beat the most prestigious manufacturers in the world,” says Phil Martens, group vice president, Product Creation. “Those two events helped establish a culture of performance at Ford that to this day benefits our products, engineering expertise, and brand loyalty. Today, that culture is embodied in the Ford GT, aptly titled the pace car for the entire company.”

The Ford GT delivers 550 horsepower and a certified 205-mph top track speed rating, with styling inspired by the historic racecars and a comfortable and contemporary interior, all for a base price (MSRP) of under $150,000.

An ultra high-performance two-seat sports car, the Ford GT is built on an aluminum spaceframe chassis with super-plastic-formed aluminum body panels and an aluminum-over-carbon engine cover.

A mid-mounted supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 delivers 500 pound-feet of torque. Power flows to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transaxle. Independent suspension, large Brembo brakes and Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires on 18-inch front and 19-inch rear wheels all are standard equipment.

Ford GT victories at Le Mans

1966 ; Ford Mk II; Ford Motor Company/Shelby American; Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon; Second-place car driven by Ken Miles and Denis Hulme and third-place car driven by Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson finished in close formation behind their winning teammates.

1967 ; Ford Mk IV; Ford Motor Coompany/Shelby American; Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt Jr. (Ford Mk IV driven by Bruce McLaren and Mark Donohue finished fourth behind its teammate.)

1968 ; Ford GT40; John Wyer Automotive Engineering; Pedro Rodriguez, Lucien Bianchi

1969 ; Ford GT40; John Wyer Automotive Engineering; Jacky Ickx, Jackie Oliver (Ford GT40 driven by David Hobbs and Mike Hailwood was third behind its teammate.)

Ford has chopped the top off of its Ford GT and cut it into four pieces for the SEMA show, thanks in large part to Ford SVT engineering supervisor Kip Ewing and some SEMA aftermarket friends.

Ford Motor Co. has scrapped plans to build a high-performance version of its Explorer Sport Trac pickup and will halt production of both the Lincoln LS sedan and Ford GT sports car this year.

After announcing last week that the Wixom Assembly Plant would be idled in the second quarter of 2007, workers were told Monday that production of the LS would stop in April and work on the Ford GT would end in September.

After that, Wixom Assembly will build only the Lincoln Town Car until the plant is idled next year. The moves mean about 300 workers at Wixom will be out of work sooner than expected.

"As part of our way forward, we are adjusting our product plan and decided not to produce the Sport Trac Adrenaline," said Ford spokesman Jon Harmon.

Unveiled last year, the Adrenaline was supposed to have been the world's first high-performance sport utility truck. It was to be built at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky.

Harmon would not discuss the specific reasons for the decision, but said Ford was focusing on giving its customers what they want.

Jim Hall, an analyst with AutoPacific in Southfield, said the Adrenaline made little sense in the first place. "It was a vehicle playing on the margins," Hall said.

The Ford GT was hardly a mainstream car, either, but Hall said it served its purpose admirably.

Without confirming a date, Ford spokesman Jim Cain said production of the Ford GT will end this year.

"We had always intended to do just two model years of the GT," Cain said.

The $150,000 sports car was inspired by the legendary Ford GT-40 race cars that swept Le Mans in 1966. Full-scale production began in 2004 and it appeared in showrooms as a 2005 and 2006 model.

"It was our plan all along to wind up production on the 40th anniversary of the 1-2-3 victory at Le Mans," Cain said. "It's not being canceled. It's just run its race."

Ford sold 1,302 GTs in 2005.

Ford said the upcoming Shelby GT500, an ultra-high-performance version of the Mustang, will fill the void left by the GT.

The $40,000 LS is being replaced by the $30,000 Lincoln Zephyr. The LS sold 19,109 units in 2005, a decline of 29.4 percent from the 27,066 sold in 2004.

The Zephyr is a sportier sedan that shares a common architecture with hot-selling Ford Fusion. The Zephyr has sold more than 7,600 units since its introduction last fall.

Ford spokesman Jon Harmon would only say the automaker plans to discontinue the LS in the spring.

Hall said the decision to kill the LS takes away little from Lincoln's lineup, though limits its V-8 offerings until its new MKS flagship sedan goes into production.

"There is a loss for dealers though," Hall said. "To be sure, Zephyr is making up a lot of that."

The decision to shut down Wixom surprised many workers, who had hoped their plant would be spared. "It shook up a lot of people," said George Walter, who works on the line at Wixom.

The LS and the Ford GT account for nearly a third of Wixom's annual production. There are about 1,500 workers at Wixom. Ford has said the end of the LS would eliminate up to 280 jobs. Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said about 40 people make the Ford GT. So, their loss could idle more than 300 workers at the factory, even before it formally shuts down.

Idled workers represented by the United Auto Workers union are eligible for unemployment, and the company makes up most of their difference in lost wages. Once their unemployment runs out, workers are transferred to Ford's jobs bank program, where they receive almost full pay and benefits.

Ford GT supercar now available in Canada

Oakville, Ontario - Ford of Canada announced that the Ford GT is now available in Canada. In total, 200 limited edition Ford GTs will be go on sale.

The Ford GT resembles the Ford GT-40 racing cars that beat the world's best in endurance racing by placing 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966.

The Ford GT carries a Canadian MSRP of $184,995