A FORD GT GENERATIONAL DRAG RACE SHOWS HOW TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES PERFORMANCE. WE LIKE.
The Ford GT40 is hands down one of the best-looking classic sportscars ever. I mean yeah when it comes to looks things are subjective, but wherever the topic of bets-looking classic cars everyone always tries to be pretentious and list some or other Ferrari or Mercedes that everyone only ever lists because they heard someone else list it once. While they’re great, the GT40 is just different, you can clearly hear the bias in this intro and it's with good reason. The GT40 was the first legit classic sportscar I ever saw in the wild. Growing up on the East Rand meant I was in the same neighbourhood as a few companies that produced GT40 replicas. Back then you’d see a GT40 more often than a 325 iS, and if you were really lucky you’d spot one in Gulf Racing colours. It’s remained a favourite since then. When a new version was launched in 2004 the world’s Ford fanatics lost their collective minds, mainly because the new car could easily be identified as a modern evolution of the classic 60s car. The 40 part of the nameplate was dropped though because a UK company that built their own GT40s in the 80s owned the GT40 trademark, and Ford didn’t want to pay the $40 million asking price. We think it’s more likely because the car now measured 44.3 inches in height and calling it a GT 44.3 would sound kak. Just over 4,000 of these were produced over a 2-year production run making them quite sought after these days.
When the 2016 GT popped up, it again had all the right lines and curves to ensure it paid proper homage to the 60s classic while having looks to rival any of the world’s modern supercars. It remains one of the best cars to look at, especially in that Liquid Blue paint. This one was in even more limited numbers, only 1,350 were made as of the close of production in December 2022. It was even hard to buy one, Ford did some weird allocation of the cars when they launched and chosen buyers weren’t allowed to sell the car under penalty of legal trouble. John Cena ain’t care, he sold his GT and ended up on Ford’s naughty list. In all the years of being a fan of the Ford GT cars, I’ve never seen them pitted up against each other. There may have been videos created, but this one from Mat Watson and Carwow is the first seen by these eyes. Thanks to the chaps at the Petersen Museum, the crew was able to assemble a trio of GTs in the form of a 1967 GT40, a 2006 GT and a 2017 GT and pit them up against each other in a heads-up drag race. The old dog is powered by a normally aspirated 4.7-litre V8 rated at 231 kW and 450 Nm mated to a 5-speed manual transmission sending power to the rear wheels. The middle child features a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 rated at 418 kW with 680 Nm and this one has a 6-speed transmission sending power to the rear. The latest version has a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 rated at 485 kW with 750 Nm of torque and also sends power to the rear but via a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. Looking at the stats, it’s clear how the drag race will go, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn't click play.
Take a look at the YouTube video that sees three of the best-looking cars that Ford has ever produced that just happen to also be three generations of the same line - the GT. The first one hails from the 60s and the newest one from a few years back, and the difference in performance and technology shows. Just again, how good-looking is that GT40?: Ford GT Generations DRAG RACE | carwow
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