Ford has released the final version of its astonishing mid-engined GT supercar, the carbon-bodied V6 turbo rocket that it used to win the GT class at Le Mans and which it then hilariously offered for sale as a road-going car to average people with driver's licences...
Named after the 1967 Le Mans winner
This, then, is the final version of the GT, and it's called the GT MkIV - the name is a reference to the sleeker, faster, 7.0-litre GT MkIV with which Ford dominated the 1967 running of the Le Mans 24hrs.
Unlike the regular GT, this GT MkIV is designed for on-track use only and won't be road-legal. Appropriately, given the history of the name, 67 of them will be built by racing experts Multimatic (which has built all of the current GTs for Ford), and they'll cost $1.7 million apiece (that's €1.6 million).
Long body, more power
Separating the MkIV from the rest of the GT family is a longer body, which is more aerodynamic - again, in keeping with the heritage of its name, as the 1967 MkIV was a longer-bodied version of the original GT40. There are vestigial LED lights at the front, deeply dished (and utterly gorgeous) 'aero' wheels, and a rear wing the size of a Sea King helicopter rotor blade.
The twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 engine has been tweaked up, with a larger cubic capacity, to deliver more than 800hp, and there's a racing-spec gearbox too. Multimatic has also fitted its in-house designed Adaptive Spool Valve (ASV) suspension. Even the car's wheelbase is now a little longer than standard.
"The original GT Mk IV held nothing back for max track performance, and the new Ford GT Mk IV brings it in the same way," said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports. "With an even higher-level of motorsport engineering and performance, plus a completely new carbon fibre body that is functional and striking, the Mk IV is the ultimate sendoff of the third-generation supercar."
The most extreme, final version
"Multimatic's brief was to create the most extreme final version of the Ford GT, and the Mk IV is the outcome," said Larry Holt, executive vice president of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations Group. "A unique larger displacement engine, proper racing gearbox, stretched wheelbase and truly radical body has resulted in an unprecedented level of performance. We are proud to have been a part of the third-generation GT from its inception to this amazing swan song and consider it a significant chapter in Multimatic's history."
If you've got the spare €1.6 million hanging around, you can put your name down for a GT MkIV, but vehicle allocations won't be confirmed until the new year, with deliveries due to start in the spring of 2023. Santa, if you're not too busy...