2005 Ford GT

The unimportant speedometer is set to the extreme right and the all important tach is centered behind the steering wheel.

The Ford GT Concept was designer Camilo Pardo's 21st Century interpretation of those winning racecars from the late '60s that, while larger in every dimension than the originals, instantly communicated the Ford racing heritage. The problems would come turning the sleek concept into a real, Ferrari killing, production car with the seemingly impossible challenge of producing the first three cars in time for Ford's Centennial Celebration in June 2003-just 14 months after the decision to build the cars.


To accomplish the task, VP for Advanced Products, Chris Theodore, turned to Ford's SVT Engineering Manager, John Coletti, who got the assignment of assembling the team of select Ford engineers and suppliers who would take on the daunting task of creating a fully engineered supercar in record time. Coletti tapped Saleen Chief Engineer, Neil Hannemann, to head the work. Hannemann had most recently completed the development of Saleen's S-7 Supercar and had Viper development work on his resume.


Bill Ford personally invited former Ford Chief Engineer, Neil Ressler, out of retirement to work with the team that would be composed almost entirely of engineers with racing in their backgrounds. Their design for the new GT would be consistent with that racing experience.


The chassis is a space frame design utilizing extruded aluminum structural beams welded to four cast aluminum mounts for the dual A-arm suspension at each corner. The body panels are also aluminum, bonded and riveted to the frame. The structure is exceptionally stiff, providing a stable platform for the coil over suspension to be tuned to nearly neutral handling.

Officially, Ford rates the power at 500 horses and 500 pound feet of torque.

Steering is quick and precise, with nearly instant turn-in. The six-speed shifter is perfectly placed, and the clutch is light and quick underfoot. The cornering adhesion is huge. Seat-of-the-pants-feel suggests well over a full G of cornering grip, helped by huge Goodyear F1 Supercar Eagles (235/45-18 front, 315/40-19 rear). The spidery six-spoke alloy wheels show off the Brembo brakes with four piston calipers at each corner grabbing huge cross drilled, vented disks. Four-channel anti-lock braking is standard. Deceleration in this car is as remarkable as its forward motion—with a danger of detaching your retinas by stepping down hard.