Ford marks Le Mans success with heritage edition GT

By RELAXNEWS | 28 June 2016


DETROIT: Ford is making its limited edition supercar even more limited with a '66 Heritage edition that will only be available for the next 12 months and which was conceived to celebrate past and present Le Mans success.

To mark 50 years of its historic 1-2-3 victory at Le Mans, Ford decided to re-enter both endurance racing and the hypercar market with a GT car for the 21st century.

The first decision led to victory in this year's event in the GT class, and the second decision - to offer a 250-model-a-year run of a carbon fiber supercar that reimagines the original Ford GT - has led to Ford being overwhelmed by serious orders that will keep the assembly line running for the next three years.

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However, Ford has now decided to make the new GT even more exclusive still with a special '66 heritage Edition.

Available only during the 2017 model year (i.e., fall 2016 to summer 2017) the car will feature a unique paint finish - matte or gloss black with silver twin racing stripe - plus other custom interior and exterior touches that will not be available on the ‘standard' US$400,000+ model.

"Celebrating the anniversary of Ford's historic victories at Le Mans has always been a part of the return of the Ford GT," said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, product development, and chief technical officer. "The 2017 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition is a stunning tribute to the car that kicked off Ford's string of Le Mans victories in 1966."

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As well as a special paint finish, the Heritage Edition will get exposed carbon elements, a #2 graphic on the doors (in a nod to the #2 Ford GT 40 that crossed the line in first place in 1966) and special one-piece forged wheels in a gold finish.

Inside, the carbon fiber racing seats are finished in padded ebony leather and the same material will trim the dashboard with contrasting gold appliques. The final design references to the race-winning car are a leather-wrapped steering wheel and seatbelts with blue webbing. And of course, no limited edition is complete without plaques and identification plates in prominent positions denoting the car's numerical position in the production run.

Of the car's appearance, Garen Nicoghosian, exterior design manager for the car, said: "While the looks are distinctly based on the GT40 Mark II race car," he said, "we've accentuated new styling cues to provide a modern interpretation."


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