Car: Ford GT
Year: 2005
What makes it special: The Ford GT is an American mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed for model year 2005 in conjunction with the company’s 2003 centenary. The Ford GT began production again from the 2017 model year. The GT recalls Ford’s historically significant GT40, a consecutive four-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1966–1969, including a 1-2-3 finish in 1966.
What made it famous: The GT is similar in outward appearance to the original GT40, but is bigger, wider, and most importantly 3 in taller than the original’s 40 in overall height. The Ford GT features many technologies unique at its time including a superplastic-formed frame, aluminum body panels, roll-bonded floor panels, a friction stir welded center tunnel, covered by a magnesium center console, 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 longitudinal rear mounted Modular 5.4 L V8 engine is all-aluminum alloy engine with an Eaton 2300 Lysholm screw-type supercharger. It features a forged rotating assembly housed in an aluminum block designed specifically for the car. A dry sump oiling system is employed, allowing the engine to sit low in the car’s frame. The DOHC 4 valves per cylinder heads are a revision of the 2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R cylinder heads with slightly increased wall casting thickness in the exhaust port. The camshafts have unique specifications, with more lift and duration than those found in the Shelby GT500. Power output is 550 hp at 6,500 rpm and 500 lb⋅ft of torque at 4,500 rpm. A Ricardo 6-speed manual transmission is fitted featuring a helical limited-slip differential.
Why I would want one: It’s Ford’s supercar, and not many were produced, making it an instant collectible.
Fun fact: During the GT’s production run, the car was featured on the cover of the video game Gran Turismo 4, and was also featured in Need for Speed: ProStreet, as well as being made into physical form in the Transformers: Alternators toy line, which featured realistic cars turning into Cybertronians; the Ford GT mold was used for the characters Mirage and Rodimus.