The Ford GT could be revived to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Blue Oval’s victory at Le Mans in 1966, according to reports in the US.
Senior sources in Dearborn have told Motor Trend that a range-topping halo car is under discussion for launch in 2016 – and it’ll be a mid-engined supercar for road and track.
Yes, Ford is considering a return to endurance racing and there would be a limited run of roadgoing supercars too. Great news!
Ford GT Mk3: what we know
Sadly, Ford doesn’t build the 5.8-litre V8 engine any more, so it seems that any GT successor would have to succumb to the Ecoboost downsizing revolution.
Motor Trend points out that Ford has provided 3.5-litre twin-turbo Ecoboost engines to the Daytona Prototype cars in the Tudor racing series.
One prepared by Roush won the 12 Hours of Sebring race. Small cubes don’t necessarily mean small power; the 3.5 can put out 600bhp…
Whether it features a V6 or V8 seems less relevant nowadays; downsizing is rampant and in an age when the BMW i8 has a three-cylinder engine and Honda’s new NSX a V6, cylinder count is becoming less and less relevant in sports car circles.
Ford at Le Mans
If the whispers in Dearborn are accurate, this could see Ford return to Le Mans. It famously won there in 1966 with the GT40 and went on to dominate for the next four years, putting Enzo Ferrari’s nose well and truly out of joint.
The Blue Oval would be rejoining a race series currently awash with mainstream manufacturers keen to cash in on the publicity available for their hybrid powertrains; Porsche, Toyota and Audi are all there, and others are rumoured to be returning.
Click here for CAR magazine’s Ford GT review from 2007.