Ford steals Detroit show with extraordinary GT
TWO thousand and fifteen is already shaping up to be a pretty good year for Ford.
On Australian soil we are due a long overdue (but exciting nonetheless) Mondeo mid-sized sedan, a bit later in the year a hot Focus ST will land, and at the back end of 2015 the best Mustang to date will arrive in polarising EcoBoost and muscular GT versions.
Overseas and on Ford’s global HQ turf it recently revealed a raft of exciting new models and glimpse of the future when it announced the winner of its mobility experiment at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
When the car-maker rolled out a mental stripped-down and tuned-up track version of its Mustang Shelby GT350 at the Detroit motor show a week later, it seemed like Ford had revealed all its secrets before the year had hardly started.
And then - bang - from out of nowhere the Blue Oval dropped this, the utterly arresting and show-stopping GT super-coupe.
Unlike so many high-profile vehicles, there had been no lengthy teaser campaigns leading up to the debut, no leaked codenames and not a single spy-shot had escaped Fords development centre, making the GT one of the most successfully guarded projects in Ford’s history.
Only a leaked floor plan of the show discovered just a day before the unveiling suggested something significant might have been about to break cover at the North American International Auto Show.
The secret stage plan showed the placing of a mysterious vehicle simply named Phoenix alongside a regal bloodline of 1960’s GT40 and its successor, the 2005 GT.
Logical deduction suggested whatever the Phoenix was would be the third generation of mid-engined two seater supercars and, boy, does it fit in.
Like its successors, the new GT has a mid-mounted engine behind just two seats driving just the rear wheels, but where the earlier cars had thumping V8 guzzlers, this version has lost a pair of cylinders and gained as many turbochargers.
Its 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 might have sacrificed capacity but with modern engine design and lots of boost pressure, the new GT develops upwards of 447kW and sends it all to the road through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
In any car that output would be more than enough for nipping to the shops or taking the kids to school but the manic Ford is constructed almost entirely of carbon-fibre that keeps kerb weight low and potential high.
Measure-for-measure the new turbo V6 engine is the most powerful yet to wear the EcoBoost name and earned its stripes race track with three victories to its name in the 2014 IMSA Tudor United Sportscar Championship.
We can’t wait to see the official performance figures but they will eventually be revealed because, although the GT is officially a concept car, Ford has confirmed it is going into production and will be hitting the road - hard - in 2016.
Styling of the new low-slung road rocket features both modern touches with advanced aerodynamics, unique flying buttresses connect the roof to rear wheel arches and upward opening doors are the stuff of fantasy, but its looks also nod to both the previous generation GT and the 1960s GT40 – Ford's foray into mid-engined racers.
Ford may choose to market the GT as American as a star-spangled Stratocaster but its conspicuous design is actually the work of an Australian.
That’s right - perhaps the most sensational car from the Blue Oval this decade was penned by Todd Willing, a quiet Tasmanian who was posted to Detroit in 2013 to work on the top secret project.
Like the hyperbolic Bugatti Veyron and McLaren P1, the Ford's rear wing is deployable, allowing slick looks and low drag at about-town speeds, but stabilising downforce at high speed.
Wide 20-inch wheels house carbon-ceramic composite brakes by Brembo, and wear Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres that were specially blended for the Ford.
That's the good news out of the way so here is the bad: At this stage there are no plans for the production version to have a steering wheel on the right, which means it won’t be coming here.
All hope is not lost though - remember that after 50 years of left-hook only, the Mustang is on its way here in right hand drive, and the previous generation GT first appeared in left hand drive only.
That car used a monstrous supercharged 5.4-litre V8 but despite its voluminous nature, produced 37kW fewer than the EcoBoost GT. It also had quite a drinking problem.
Arriving right on the cusp of the global financial crisis the indulgent Ford GT wasn’t as well received as it might have been in more financially stable times but the car that preceded it was rather more successful in an entirely different way.
The original Ford GT40 was designed not to be a great road car but to snatch victory from the Ferraris that had dominated the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race for six years, and in 1966 the Ford smashed the opposition in style claiming a one, two, three victory.
The stunning 2015 Ford GT concept has big shoes to fill but with state of the art construction, divine looks and Ford’s most potent EcoBoost engine to date, is it the first Ford to scare Ferrari in 50 years?
Daniel Gardner goauto.com.au
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