In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, we’re having a family reunion of Ford supercars: the 2021 Ford GT Carbon Edition, 2006 Ford GT, and 1967 Ford GT40 MKIII. These three cars are the pinnacle of American-made speed and motorsport DNA. They all represent a distinct moment in Ford’s history, and the 2005 GT would end an almost 40 year drought between Ford supercars. Keep reading to hear Neil Hanneman – chief engineer of the Ford GT – tell us how they did it.

It all started with Henry Ford II’s attempt to buy Ferrari in 1963. He knew that Ford needed to appeal to younger buyers, and acquiring Ferrari, which had been dominating Le Mans for years, would give him instant racing credibility. Enzo Ferrari wanted someone to manufacture his road cars so he could stay focused on racing. He was ready to make the deal until he discovered that Ford would have control over his racing division. At the last moment, Enzo backed out of the deal, hurling personal insults at Mr. Ford and his vehicles. This turned Henry Ford II vengeful, and he made a decision that would change the world of motorsports and the Ford Motor Company forever. With an unlimited budget, he gave his racing team only one instruction: humiliate and dethrone Ferrari at Le Mans.

The GT40

GT40 #1075 was one of the few cars in history to win Le Mans twice with different driver groups

Ford first called upon Lola Cars, a British manufacturer, to build the GT40 chassis while designing the rest of the car in-house. After the MkI GT40 suffered a 100% retirement rate at Le Mans, they asked Carroll Shelby to take over the struggling program. Just down the street from the Petersen, in Venice Beach, CA, Shelby renewed the GT40, installing a 427 cubic-inch V8, a new transmission, lighter body panels, and improved aerodynamics. The GT40 MkII was born. Ford swept the podium in 1966 and went on to win 4 years in a row at Le Mans, with factory wins in ‘66 and ‘67 and privateer wins in the Gulf-liveried GT40 #1075 in ‘68 and ‘69.

The GT40 MkIII in the collection of the Petersen Automotive Museum

Ford gained so much attention from its success at Le Mans that several customers expressed interest in purchasing a road-going version. The car was detuned for street use and lengthened to increase rear luggage compartment space. Only 7 MkIIIs were ever built at a price of around $18,500 (~$185,000 in 2026 adjusted for inflation). Even though demand for these street-legal racecars was low, they inspired several attempts to revive the ‘GT’ platform for street use over the years, very few of which were successful.

Ford’s ‘supercar drought’

Ford’s GT90 concept car, named to celebrate the 1990s and Ford's 90th anniversary

The first attempt at building a successor came in the late 60s with the GT44 concept, based on the original mustang concept which inspired the GT40’s design. The GT44 was canceled due to the incoming fuel crisis. Then came the GT70 in 1970, a V6 rally car built by Ford UK. Thanks to its poor performance in the World Rally Championship and impractical design, it was never built as a street car. The GT90 concept (pictured above) was a futuristic, quad-turbocharged V12-powered supercar that was deemed too expensive to reach production. It seemed like Ford could never improve on the original GT40’s design, so they decided not to.

The 2005 GT - Interview with Neil Hanneman

2006 Ford GT in Tungsten Grey

The 2005 Ford GT was the closest Ford could get to building a GT40 for modern street use. The GT’s chief designer, Camillo Pardo, said his design was essentially ‘an advanced GT40.’ It had the same mid-engined V8 construction as the GT40 and the same design language, but was engineered to be more modern, practical, and reliable than its predecessor. I spoke to Chief Engineer of the Ford GT, Neil Hanneman, and asked what he had to say about the car’s iconic design and how he dealt with it from an engineering standpoint.

Neil: “There's a trail of concept cars that Ford tried, but none of them hit the mark until this one. So he (Camillo Pardo) did that. And so we worked within his shape, under the skin, to put in the most modern chassis, engine, and drivetrain that we could, and I think we succeeded at that.” “But if you see the two cars alone and you just glance at them, you have to think, 'Which one was that?' Cause they have the same profile and form and everything fits together.”

Ryan: What was the biggest challenge in building the Ford GT?

Neil: “Maybe the biggest one was, you know, hitting the timing.” “The official kickoff was in July, and I think we launched the car in July. So July of '02 to July of '04.”

Ryan: And typically a team is given how many years?

Neil: “Oh, three to five years. And four or five on, you know, big projects. A three-year program might use the same existing engine so it's not a whole new car”

Built for Ford’s 100th anniversary, the GT accomplished the same task as its predecessor – it beat Ferrari, and did it on a tight schedule. The GT’s main competitor, the Ferrari 360, had 150 fewer horsepower, was 0.7 seconds slower to 60 MPH, and cost significantly more at the time. The GT also reached a dizzying top speed of 205 MPH, around 20 MPH faster than the 360. Ford had shown the world that they were capable of rivaling European exotic manufacturers while maintaining rugged simplicity and build quality. Modified Ford GTs have been known to handle more than 2,000 horsepower through the stock engine block, and some have reached speeds over 300 MPH. I asked Neil for his thought's about the GT's top speed capability.

Neil: "I'm not really an advocate of top speed. And when we were developing the car, my boss, bosses or marketing people, they wanted to know, 'What's the top speed target?' And I refused to apply one." "I didn't wanna sacrifice aerodynamic balance for lowering drag, right? So we went for balance and downforce, and then the top speed was gonna be what it was." "The first time they did a top speed run, it was like 205, and then I think they did another run and hit 212. But yeah, I wouldn't commit to a number."

I also asked Neil why his design was capable of such extreme power figures. 

Neil: "The thing that enabled that was the transmission." "I was accused of making a race transmission, and it wasn't. But because of the short timeframe we couldn't afford design iterations." "We couldn't test it and break it and test it and break it. We had to pretty much get it right out of the box. So, it was well over-designed. And so what that meant is that these guys could take the Ford GT engine, put twin turbos on it, and make 1,000 or 1,200 horsepower, and the transmission was just fine."

Today, Ford GT values have soared past the original $150,000 MSRP with a market price of around half a million dollars, while the limited-production Heritage Edition commands prices upwards of a million dollars. Aside from a few one-off privateer attempts, the ‘05 GT never went racing, missing out on an important aspect of its heritage. For their next attempt at a modernized GT40, on the 50th anniversary of the original car's greatest triumph, Ford was determined to change this.

The 2016 Ford GT: A Racing Legend Reborn

The Le Mans winning #68 Ford GT

The 2016 Ford GT was developed primarily as a GT racing car, then homologated to street-spec for production. For the 50th anniversary of their triumph at Le Mans, Ford wanted to go back and win in the LM-GTE (Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance) class at all costs. After they developed the car in secret with a small group of engineers from Ford, Multimatic, and Chip Ganassi Racing, they unleashed it in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Exactly 50 years after their original defeat of Ferrari, the #68 GT driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, and Sébastien Bourdais won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, beating the Ferrari 488 GTE.

2021 Ford GT Carbon Edition

The 2016 Ford GT maintained the DNA of the racecar, keeping its dramatic teardrop shape and flying buttresses for maximized aerodynamic efficiency. With its 3.5 Liter EcoBoost V6 now unrestricted, it produced 660 BHP through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission strikingly similar to the one found in the racecar. Multimatic installed an advanced hydraulic lift system into the car’s race-derived pushrod suspension, which drops the car approximately 2 inches from its standard height to track position almost instantaneously. The modern Ford GT, akin to its grandfather, is a single-purpose track monster that can be driven on the road. Its market value, like its predecessors, continues climbing, with special edition cars selling around 1.5 to 2 million dollars.

Get your tickets here to take a closer look at these quintessential American cars. 

Don't forget to visit our All American Cruise-in Celebrating 250 years on Sunday July 26th!