Car of the Day - Ford GT

Car of the Day - Ford GT

Ford undertook a mammoth design and engineering exercise when it decided to do a modern interpretation of what is undoubtably it’s most famous race car. Ford has an illustrious reputation in Motorsport with many iconic cars. While the Mustang, Cobra, Escort, Falcon and many others have had success around the globe, it is the GT40 - winning Le Mans and most importantly beating Ferrari with the GT40 that elevates Ford above all other American manufacturers as the most successful in World Motorsport.

The engineers had to start with a clean slate when designing the GT, which can be a good thing ... or bad. Without the built-up knowledge base of years of design, testing and manufacturing experience of the traditional SuperCar manufacturers the engineers at Ford had to design and build a car that could at the very least equal the best of the Italian Exotics. Which in itself was a replication of why the original GT40 came into existence.

First shown by Henry Ford II at the 2002 North American Auto Show, the second concept closely referenced the style of the original. The first concept tried to interpret a modern representative without the visual cues, a direction that was not pursued. Chief Designer Camilo Pardo was responsible for the initial design of the GT and was approval was given moved to a role of ensuring the engineers did not stray from the design even though the concept was deemed to be only 5% production-feasible.

The design and engineering challengers were numerous. The concept car featured flush-mounted windows which proved difficult since fixed windows were not an option in a modern supercar and drop-down windows created a packaging nightmare. Ultimately Pardo pushed the bottom edge of the window inboard preserving the continuity of design and allowing the window glass to drop completely into the door between the side-impact beam and the concave exterior door panel.

The doors themselves created yet another production challenge. Their size and shape meant the panels were too complex for stamping. so a process of super-plastic forming using air pressure to force heated aluminum panels into a one-sided die was used.

The exterior design paid particular attention to aerodynamics and the underside of the car. Downforce was a priority and side splitters were added to prevent air from sliding under the rocker panels. A fully enclosed belly pan is employed to reduce underbody turbulence and venturi tunnels at the rear accelerate exiting air to create a vacuum to aid downforce.

The build of the first three production cars commenced on March 10, 2003. referred to as jobs one, two and three. Regular production of the Ford GT will begin in spring 2004.

The heart of any Exotic SuperCar is undoubtably the engine and in the case of Ford nothing but a V8 would be right. While the architecture comes Ford’s MOD engine family, it is extensively reworked. The Supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 producing 500 horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque. This is comparable to the race-prepared, blue-printed 427 (7.0-liter) big-blocks of the original Ford GT race cars.’

The engine features an aluminum block with four-valve cylinder heads, dual overhead camshafts. a forged-steel crankshaft, shot-peened H-beam connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons.. A screw-type supercharger with water-to-air intercooler supplies induction airflow. To reference the race heritage two race-inspired components were specified, a dry-sump oil system and a twin-plate clutch..An all-new, six-speed transaxle from Ricardo transmits power to the pavement. The proprietary design let Ford engineers dictate the individual ratios rather than having to select from an existing list.

As the exterior was designed before the internal packaging was specified the Aluminum Space Frame was engineered around the external dimensions. The assembly comprises 35 extrusions, seven complex castings, two semi-solid formed castings, and numerous stamped aluminum panels. The structure features a large center tunnel to house the mid-mounted fuel tank and cut-out roof sections for the cantilevered doors. Each component was individually engineered to maximize strength and minimize weight. Larger extrusions such as the primary frame rails have a different thickness on each wall. Lightening holes are used in the castings to decrease mass.

A double-wishbone suspension is utlised with unequal-length aluminum control arms, coil-over monotube shocks and stabilizer bars front and rear.
The upper control arms are the same at each corner and made from an advanced rheo-cast process that allows the complexity of form with the strength of forging. .

Braking is supplied by Brembo four piston one-piece calipers with cross-drilled and vented discs at each corner. The discs are a 14 inches at front and 13.2 inches at rear. One-piece BBS wheels are shod with Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires, - 235/45ZR-18 at front and 315/40ZR-19 at rear.

The interior is a superb mix of contemporary and retro and the design is both cohesive and successful. The same applies to the whole package and while this was a one off exercise for Ford and one that probably won’t be repeated for some time, enthusiast have a successful rarity - a mid engined American exotic.

Rod Halligan