FORD GT

:''This page refers to the concept and production cars of 2002 and later; for the mid-1960s race car, see Ford GT40.''
The 'Ford GT' began as a concept car designed in anticipation of Ford's centennial year and as part of its drive to showcase and revive its "heritage" names such as Mustang and Thunderbird. Camilo Pardo, the head of Ford's "Living Legends" studio, is credited as the chief designer of the GT and worked under the guidance of J Mays. The designers drew inspiration from Ford's classic GT40 race cars of the 1960s and the GT is sometimes mistaken for its 1960s counterpart.
Positive response on the auto show circuit in 2002 helped persuade the company to produce the car in limited quantities, and the first production versions appeared in 2003. It is a very high-performance, two-seater vehicle with a strong styling resemblance to its racing ancestor and performance to match. The powerplant is a mid-mounted supercharged 5.4 liter V8, producing 550 horsepower (410 kW) and 500 foot-pounds (678 Nm) of torque. Top speed is electronically limited to 205 mph although prototypes have reached 212 mph (339 km/h) during development testing.

Contents

Development

Production and sales

Ford GTX1

Performance and engineering

Fuel Consumption

Problems

Video Games

Racing

References

External links

Development

At the 1995 Detroit Auto Show, the Ford GT90 concept was shown and at the 2002 show, a new GT40 Concept was unveiled by Ford.
The GT is similar to the original Ford GT40 cars, but bigger, wider, and three inches taller than the original 40 inches (1.02 m) - as a result of which, a potential name for the car was the GT43. Three production prototype cars were shown in 2003 as part of Ford's centenary, and delivery of the production Ford GT began in the fall of 2004
A British company, 'Safir Engineering', who made continuation GT40s in the 1980s owned the GT40 trademark at that time, and when they completed production, they sold the excess parts, tooling, design, and trademark to a small Ohio company called 'Safir GT40 Spares'. Safir GT40 Spares licensed the use of the GT40 trademark to Ford for the initial 2002 show car, but when Ford decided to make the production vehicle, negotiations between the two failed, and as a result the new Ford GT does not wear the badge GT40. It is rumored that Safir GT40 Spares asked $40 million dollars for the rights, but this has never been verified. The partners at Safir GT40 Spares state they have correspondence from Ford declining Safir's $8 million offer. Early cars from the 1960s were simply named "Ford GT". The name "GT40" was the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit, and the quest to win the 24 Hours of LeMans. The first 12 prototype vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 through GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars, the MkI, MkIIs, MkIIIs, and MkVs, numbered GT40-P-1000 through GT40-P-1145, were officially "GT40s". The name of Ford's project, and the serial numbers, thus show the story that "GT40" was only the car's nickname to be false.

Production and sales

Production startup began in spring 2004. The first customers took delivery in September 2004. The GT began assembly and was painted by Saleen in their Saleen Special Vehicles facility in Troy, Michigan. The GT is powered by an engine built at Ford's Romeo Engine Plant in Romeo, Michigan. Installation of the engine and transmission along with interior finishing was handled in the SVT building at Ford's Wixom, Michigan plant.
Of the 4,500 GTs originally planned, approximately 100 were to be exported to Europe, starting in late 2005. An additional 200 were destined for sale in Canada. When production ended in 2006, the full planned lot of 4500 were not produced. Approximately 550 were built in 2004, nearly 1900 in 2005, and just over 1600 in 2006, for a grand total of 4038; however, the final 11 car bodies manufactured by Mayflower Vehicle Systems were disassembled and the frames and body panels sold as service parts.
As with many highly desirable new vehicles, when the Ford GT was first released, the demand severely outpaced supply, and the cars initially sold for premium prices. The first unit available to the public sold at a charity auction for over $500,000 to a retired Microsoft executive. Other early cars sold for as much as a $300,000 premium over the suggested retail price range of $450,000 to $700,000 depending on selected optional equipment. Starting in 2007, the average price for a new Ford GT was down to $100,000. By June 2005, retail sale prices had dropped to around $10,000 to $20,000 over MSRP, and in August 2005 several new GTs were sold on eBay for no more than the suggested retail price. Nevertheless, recognizing that there was ongoing demand and support for the car, Ford raised the base sticker by $10,000 to $150,000 in late 2007.
The production run of the GT ended with the 2006 model year on 21 September 2006, with 4038 cars produced [1] out of an originally-planned 4500, and the Wixom Assembly plant, where the GT was finish-assembled, is scheduled for closure in 2007 and as stopped production of all models as of May 31, 2007^[1]. Sales of the GT continued into 2007, from cars held in storage and in dealer inventories.

Ford GTX1

In November 2005 the Ford GTX1, a roadster version of the Ford GT, was unveiled in Las Vegas. The $48,000 aftermarket conversion is performed by the Genaddi Design Group, but endorsed by Ford. It includes performance upgrades that increase horsepower as well as suspension modification.

Performance and engineering

The Ford GT features many new and unique technologies, including super-plastic-formed aluminum body panels, roll-bonded floor panels, a friction-stir welded center tunnel, a “ship-in-a-bottle” gas tank, a capless fuel filler system, one-piece door panels and an aluminum engine cover with a one-piece carbon-fiber inner panel.
Brakes are four-piston aluminum Brembo calipers with cross-drilled and vented rotors at all four corners. When the rear canopy is opened, the rear suspension components and engine are visible.
The 5.4L V8 powerplant is all-aluminum and fed by a Lysholm screw-type supercharger. It features unique 4-valve DOHC cylinder heads and a forged rotating assembly. It uses a unique aluminum block designed specifically for the GT program with an emphasis on block rigidity. A dry sump oiling system is employed, allowing the engine to sit very low in the frame. The DOHC heads are a revision of the Cobra R cylinder heads (with slightly increased wall casting thickness in the exhaust port) and the design is essentially shared with the GT500. Power output is 550 horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque. A Ricardo six-speed manual transmission is fitted featuring a helical limited-slip differential.

Performance (mph):''(Source: Road & Track)''


0-60 mph (0-96 km/h): 3.8 s

0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): 8.8 s

Topspeed: 205 mph



Top lap time-Nürburgring Nordschleife (''as indicated by Octane magazine, 11/05''):


7:42 s

Fuel Consumption

The US EPA mileage estimate for the GT is 13 mpg in city driving, and 21 mpg in highway cruising, for a combined 16 mpg (18.1/11.2 & 14.7 L/100 km combined).^[2] Similar vehicles, like the Lamborghini Murcielago and Ferrari F430, rate at 10 city / 15 highway for 12 mpg (19.6 L/100 km) combined, and 13 city / 17 highway for 14 mpg (16.8 L/100 km) combined, respectively.^[3]
On May 14th 2007 a GT participated in an economy driving contest around Reykjavik in Iceland sponsored by the association of car dealers in Iceland. The GT finished the 143 km circle through hilly terrain with average fuel consumption of 11,31 litre/100km
(20.8 mpg) and average speed of about 65 km/h. The driver was Gísli Jón Bjarnason, sales manager at Ford dealer Brimborg.
For racing, Team Torquenstein used the Ford GT in the 2006 Gumball 3000 because of its fuel efficiency and performance. They placed first overall.

Problems

Early production Ford GT experienced many minor problems (including glitches with the electrical and climate control systems, leaking power steering and engine coolant hoses, and a steering column rattle on some cars), and two bigger problems.
In December of 2004, Ford recalled all Ford GTs that had been built up to that point (448 units were built, but only 283 had been shipped to dealers, and only 106 had been delivered to retail customers) because of concerns regarding the strength of the suspension control arms. They had been "squash cast" for added strength, a new process also used by Porsche and Alfa Romeo. But after Ford discovered a crack in one of the high-mileage development cars, the company decided to replace the parts on all the production cars.
There was also a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) to inspect the engine on early cars built in 2004 for an oil leak at the main seal. The finish of some crankshafts was flawed, causing an oil leak. Ford dealers stopped the leak with a new main seal and a "Speedi-Sleeve" around the crankshaft, a device commonly used to repair worn engines in older cars. Some journalists felt that this was an improper fix for an expensive supercar and criticized Ford for not either replacing the defective crankshaft or replacing the entire engine.[2]
There are a few other TSBs for the car, including the need for hose clamps to be adjusted or replaced.

Video Games

★ ''Gran Turismo 4'' uses a GT as its display car for the game. A heavily modified racing version appears both on the cover, in the FMV Intro, and in the game itself. Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi owns a Ford GT. A story featuring the Ford GT, GT4 and Yamauchi appears on Edmunds.com's Inside Line.

★ An obvious clone of the GT appears in '', under the name "Bullet".

★ ''Forza Motorsport'' features the Ford GT as one of the cars purchasable in game and also the Ford GT-40 MK II.

★ '' features two versions of the Ford GT, both as a stock car and the Castrol version.

★ '' features a Ford GT that can be heavily modified and it is one of the fastest cars in the game.

★ ''Project Gotham Racing 2'' features the Ford GT.

★ ''Project Gotham Racing 3'' features the returning Ford GT as one of the cars purchasable in game.

★ ''Project Gotham Racing Mobile'' features the Ford GT.

★ ''Test Drive Unlimited'' features the Ford GT as one of the cars purchaseable in game.

★ ''Enthusia Professional Racing'' has a Ford GT available.

★ ''Sega GT 2002'' Has a Ford GT Concept available for unlock and purchase. It is also featured on the cover.

★ ''In Ford Racing 3'' was a 1971 GT70, 1995 GT90 and 2005 GT.

★ ''Driver 3'' Like GTA, has clone of GT in the Miami level.

★ ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' features the Ford GT.

★ ''Ford StreetRacing'' features 1995 Ford GT90 Concept and 2005 Ford GT as well as other Ford cars.

★ ''Forza Motorsport 2'' features the Ford GT and Ford GT-40 MK II.

★ ''The Sims 2'' a download from The Sims 2 official website ^[4]

★ ''Asphalt Urban GT'' also features the Ford GT. ^[5]

★ '' features the Ford brand and the GT for the first time in the celebrated Midnight Club series

Racing

★ A highly-modified GT is currently in use in Super GT's GT300 class driven by Hidetoshi Mitsusada and Daisuke Ikeda. Designed by DHG Racing, it is powered by a 3.5 L Formula 1 Ford Cosworth DFR unit.

★ Swiss team Matech Racing currently runs two Ford GTs in the FIA GT3 European Championship.

★ PSI Experience of Belgium is also planning to enter Ford GTs in the FIA GT3 European Championship^[6]

★ Doran Racing is in the process of developing a Ford GT for use in the American Le Mans Series GT2 class.^[7]

★ AUTOart currently offers two different 1:18 scale diecast Ford GT LM Editions, fantasy race cars based on the ones used in Gran Turismo 4.

References

1. Fords Wixom Plant Heads to the Great Assembly Line in the Sky autoblog.com
2. Gas Mileage of 2005 Ford GT fueleconomy.gov
3. Gas Mileage of 2005 Two Seaters fueleconomy.gov
4. http://thesims2.ea.com/getcoolstuff/ford/index.php=
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asphalt_Urban_GT
6. AutoWeek: Sports Car Briefs
7. Ford GT TV

External links

★ Ford GT video, review and photographs

★ Official American Site

★ Official Canadian Site

★ Motor Trend GT Report

★ 2005 Ford GT

★ Doran-Kuttner Ford GTR

★ [3]