Ford GT

The Ford GT began as a concept car designed in anticipation of Ford's centennial year and as part of its drive to showcase and revive its "heritage" names such as Mustang and Thunderbird. Camilo Pardo, the head of Ford's "Living Legends" studio, is credited as the chief designer of the GT and worked under the guidance of J Mays. The designers drew inspiration from Ford's classic GT40 race cars of the 1960s and the GT is sometimes mistaken for its 1960s counterpart.

Positive response on the auto show circuit in 2002 helped persuade the company to produce the car in limited quantities, and the first production versions appeared in 2003. It is a very high-performance, two-seater vehicle with a strong styling resemblance to its racing ancestor and performance to match. The powerplant is a mid-mounted supercharged 5.4 liter V8, producing 550 horsepower (410 kW) and 500 foot-pounds (678 Nm) of torque. Top speed is 212 mph (355 km/h).

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Ford Mustang Giugiaro Concept

In 2005, Italian car designer Fabrizio Giugiaro, from the world renowned Giugiaro car design family, went to the Ford Motor Company with a passion to design a future concept inspired by the fifth generation Ford Mustang. As the styling director of Italdesign – Giugiaro S.P.A., Fabrizio is continuing the Italdesign design tradition known for his bold designs for Fiat, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen, Mazda, Lotus and Bugatti. The original Giugiaro, Giorgetto, was instrumental in designing the 1965 Bertone Mustang and the Chevrolet Corvette Moray.

The result of Italdesign’s years of experience in car design and collaboration with Ford is the Giugiaro Mustang concept car that debuted at the 2006 Los Angeles International Auto Show.

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Ford GT90

The Ford GT90 was a concept car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was unveiled in January 1995, at the Detroit Auto Show as "the world's mightiest supercar". Claimed performance included a top speed close to 250 mph (402 km/h) from a 720 hp (537 kW) quad-turbocharged V12 engine, the exhaust of which was claimed to be hot enough to damage the body panels, requiring ceramic tiles similar to those on the space shuttle to prevent this.

The mid-engined car was a spiritual successor to the Ford GT40, taking from it some styling cues, such as doors that cut into the roofline, but little else. All angles and glass, the Ford GT90 was the first Ford to display the company's "New Edge" design philosophy. The GT90 was built around a honeycomb-section aluminum monocoque and its body panels were moulded from carbon fiber.

The GT90 was built by a small team in just over six months and, as a result, borrowed many components from another high profile stablemate—the Jaguar XJ220. The all-round double wishbone suspension and the five-speed manual gearbox came from the Jaguar, while the engine was from another member of the Ford family.

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... and a promotional clip:

Ford Capri Zakspeed Turbo

In the late 1970s, Zakspeed was the official Ford team in the German Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) series, a predecessor of the current DTM. The company constructed and entered an FIA Group 2 Escort and the Group 5 Capri, based on the MKIII production model.

During this period, the Zakspeed team achieved a number of victories including the overall championship in 1981 with driver Klaus Ludwig (car shown right).

In the early 1980s, Zakspeed also prepared a Mustang for Ford USA's Special Vehicle Operations to race in the domestic IMSA series. The Mustang chassis was based on the Group 5 Capri.

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Ford Mustang History

The Ford Mustang is an automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company, originally based on the Ford Falcon compact.[1] The first production Mustang rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan on 9 March 1964, and was introduced to the public at the New York World's Fair on 17 April 1964, and via all three American television networks on 19 April.

It was one of the most successful product launches in automotive history. The Mustang sold over one million units in its first 18 months on the market. The Mustang remains in production today after many decades and several revisions.

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... and a Steve McQueen's Bullitt car chase sequence:

Ford GT-40

The Ford GT40 was a sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969. It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965).

The car was named the GT after the Grand Tourisme category where it was intended to compete; the 40 represents its overall height of 40 inches (1.02 m, measured at the windshield) as required by the rules. Large-capacity Ford V8 engines (4.7 L and 7 L) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which displaced 3.0 L or 4.0 L.

Early cars were simply named "Ford GT". The name "GT40" was the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit, and the quest to win the 24 Hours of LeMans. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 through GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars, the MkI, MkIIs, MkIIIs, and MkVs, numbered GT40-P-1000 through GT40-P-1145, were officially "GT40s". The name of Ford's project, and the serial numbers dispel the story that "GT40" was "only a nickname."

The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.

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