Ford GT Heritage Edition unleashed

Ford has announced it is paying tribute to its famous 1966 Daytona 24 hour GT40 win with a new Ford GT Heritage Edition that sports the same livery.

Wearing the same black bonnet, red patches, black stripes and flashes of red paint as the original GT40 Mark II, the retro-inspired Ford GT Heritage also features ’98’ roundel graphics and Ford lettering on the rear quarter panels.

Other changes include 20-inch forged aluminium wheels that get a special gold finish, plus Brembo brakes featuring red callipers.

Inside, the limited GT bags Alcantara sport seats, anodised red paddle shifters and an instrument panel wrapped with black Alcantara -- the same material is used for the headliner and steering wheel.

If that doesn’t sound special enough, buyers are also offered the choice of adding the ‘Heritage upgrade Package’ that introduces new carbon-fibre wheels with gloss red accents.

That same package includes a set of black callipers with red Brembo lettering, while inside there’s what Ford describes as ‘ghosted 98 roundels’ on the inner door cards.

If the Heritage Edition doesn't float your boat, Ford says there’s a new option of a Studio Collection pack that allows further graphics designed to emphasise both the “emotion of speed” and some of the most prominent features of the GT.

Sadly, neither the new Heritage Edition or the Studio Collection doesn’t offer any more performance.

But few will complain as the new special is based on the 2020MY supercar, in which the power of the twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 has already been wound up from 483kW to 493kW.

At the same time, the facelifted Ford supercar has had substantial aero tweaks and a comprehensive chassis tune.

It even sounds better too, thanks to its full-titanium Akrapovic exhaust, which also saves 4kg.

Just 40 Ford GTs will be offered with the Studio Collection stripes. Ford hasn’t announced how many Heritage Editions it will make.

Originally, Ford said it would make just 500 GTs when the born-again supercar was first unveiled in 2015 – a figure it quickly more than doubled to 1350 in light of overwhelming demand.

Unfortunately for Australians, the lack of right-hand drive production means the Ford GT will never be officially offered Down Under.

It’s thought the Heritage Edition is the beginning of a long farewell to the GT. Ford has already announced that production at the Canadian factory in which it’s built will end in 2022.