Ford's GT goes street racing
Tell us we're dreamin' -- or posing -- but given the chance we'd park one of these in our garage in one second flat.What must be the most collectable version of the born-again Ford GT is about to go on sale in the US as a limited edition street car.
Sporting the blue-and-orange livery of the JCW Automotive/Gulf Oil-sponsored, Le Mans-winning original GT40, the GT Heritage marks 40 years since Ford started its four-year domination of the 24-Hour classic.
Officially, the colour scheme is Heritage Blue with Epic Orange. The four white "roundels" allow customers to affix their racing numbers ... or any other number they fancy. (What's the bet on number "1" being most popular?)
The JCW/Gulf cars won Le Mans in 1968 -- driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi -- and 1969 - the winning car driven by Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver, and the third-placed sister car driven by David Hobbs and Mike Hailwood.
Those cars came midway through Ford's four-year domination of the event, its Ford Mk IIs having finished 1-2-3 in 1966 (the winning car driven by New Zealanders Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon), and Ford Mk IVs claiming first and fourth in 1967 (the winning car driven by the all-American pairing of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt Jr.
Earlier this year, Ford announced another special exterior colour for 2006 GTs, Tungsten Grey. That colour is available with Quick Silver stripes, and the combination commemorates Ford's 1966 first Le Mans victory.
The colours obviously won't make the 410kW/678Nm mid-engined GT any quicker across the standing quarter. But they'll sure help it disappear quicker off showroom floors. According to Ford, celebrities are high on the list of customers, with TV frontman Jay Leno already an owner-fan - although Ford won't identify other owners.
Of course, the bad news is that the GT won't come here. So, back to dreamin' ...
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
