Hang on a minute, this isn’t the first Ford to wear a GT badge is it?
Correct, ten points to the fast Ford connoisseur. The original Ford GT rolled off production lines in limited numbers in 2005. It packed a whopping 6.2-litre V8, muscular styling and the sort of track that made it almost impossible to drive down any normal street. There were also the original GT40s, built in the 1960s for endurance racing, but we won’t bore you with that.
Good question, perhaps it has something to do with the rapidly falling price of fuel, or simply because company bigwigs know that halo models such as this attract young, wealthy customers to the brand. Either way, it’s bloody exciting and a hell of a lot better to look at than a van.
Does the latest car pack a ridiculous engine, then?
Not really, Ford has ‘downsized’ to a 3.5-litre EcoBoost unit that is said to balance performance and efficiency. Still, it kicks out an eye-popping 600bhp, which should be good for some impressive sub-3.5-seconds 0-100km/h acceleration figures. Especially as the new model goes heavy with the lightweight materials and boasts a number of aerodynamic features to ensure it’s slipperier than a greased eel.
Ford didn’t really go into detail about infotainment and such, but officials did reveal that it features a cool ‘stalk-less’ steering column that puts all of the controls on the steering wheel like a Formula 1 car, as well as a customisable digital instrument display. There’s also space for a touch-screen control unit in the dash, which will likely feature the latest version of Ford Sync when it goes on sale in 2016. Expect AppLink software that allows smartphone features to be used on the move.
It’s not exactly cutting-edge, is it?
Ford steered clear of the whole hybrid thing to reduce weight and prove that their EcoBoost engines can be as efficient as some of the plug-in sports car currently on the market. It’s a proper analogue ‘Murican muscle car and if you need proof that it’s badass, just look at those upward-swinging doors.
How much will it cost?
There hasn’t been any word on official pricing but you can expect to part with over R2.63 million. The recently unveiled Honda NSX comes out at about the same time for (we expect) quite a lot less less, meaning that anyone with money to burn is going to have a great time road testing next-generation sports in 2016.