As we all know, a brand-new, ultra-capable Ford GT supercar is inbound toward the end of this year, representing the very best of what Ford engineering can do wrapped up in one sleek road car. As it happens, this new Ford GT will arrive just over five decades after Ford’s first win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 with the GT40 Mk II.
But let’s not forget the other supercar that forms the middle link in an evolutionary chain spanning more than 50 years: the 2005-’06 Ford GT.
That car was the focus of a recent Hagerty seminar, in which retired Ford VP of Product Development Chris Theodore moderates an hour-long discussion of the old model’s design and development. Also present for the presentation are Body Manager Bill Clarke, Powertrain Manager Curt Hill, current Ford CTO Raj Nair, and special guests David and Andrea Robertson of privateer team Robertson Racing, who campaigned a first-generation Ford GT in the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing third in the GT-Am class.
At $140k to $150k, the 2005-’06 Ford GT was a bargain relative to the 2017 supercar, which is expected to cost around $450k when it launches later this year. It was also comparatively common, with more than 4,000 examples being produced, vs. just 500 planned for the new car.
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