Introducing: 2016 Ford GT

Many moons ago, Detroit was a motoring mecca: the birthplace of thunderous muscle cars, moody basslines and soul spouting musicians. Today, the music and motor trade have all but vanished, but Ford’s surprise unveiling of its latest incarnation of the GT in Detroit, earlier this week, appears to have put the motor back in Motown.

Ford is expecting to roll out the new GT in 2016, which just so happens to mark 50 years since the company took home a bronze, silver and gold at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Coincidence? Not so much, as Ford is eager to shout about its racing pedigree with the company hoping that the GT will head up a new range of a dozen high-performance cars by 2020.

‘Racing pedigree’ may sound a little rich considering Ford, for many people, conjures up images of family-friendly motoring, but go back to the days when most pensioners were in short trousers and the Blue Oval meant serious business on the racetrack. Fittingly, the original Ford GT40, as it was known back in 1966, was born out of a bitter rivalry between Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II, which developed as a result of a disagreement between the two motor bosses in 1963. Henry Ford became intent on beating Ferrari and tasked his motor racing division with the job of building a car that was capable of snatching the title from the Italians in the world endurance-racing circuit.

Right, class dismissed, let’s turn to the car in question, the stunning 2016 Ford GT. Despite being revealed in a city steeped in V8 heritage, the new GT will sport a slightly more politically sensitive 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged Ecoboost V6, which Ford claim will produce “more than 600bhp.” With the Michigan based company keeping the GT’s official performance figures under lock and key for now, it does claim however, that the carbon fibre creation will offer one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any production car.

On the outside, the new GT represents a substantial departure from the previous model, which was a nipped and tucked revision of the 1960’s original. With its tapered waist, flying buttresses and deep bonnet nostrils the GT will hold its own among the current supercar crop.

With the project reportedly taking just over a year to produce what is on show today, it’s a mammoth achievement for the American automaker, which hopes to start production of the GT in late 2016. With no word on pricing yet, expect the GT to command north of £200,000. As was the case 50 years ago, it appears Uncle Sam has his sights firmly set on the Italians.

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