What's the news?
Feast your eyes on this beauty - this is called the Ford GT '67 Heritage and it is styled deliberately to evoke mental images of the red-and-white MkIV GT40 race car, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans precisely 40 years ago; the second of four consecutive overall victories for Ford at the highly prestigious event.
Following the 7.0-litre MkII GT40's Le Mans victory in 1966, Ford evolved its mid-engined Ferrari-beater into the distinctive MkIV, which looks like no other GT40, for the 1967 edition of the French race. Finished in red with twin white stripes (Daytona, Le Mans, Viper or racing stripes, in various parlance), it was driven to victory over 388 gruelling laps (5,232.9km) by Americans Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt.
Now the new version of the Ford supercar will be offered in road-going guise in a similar livery, featuring unique interior and exterior colour schemes, and an exclusive design of alloy wheel. It follows on from a similar '66 Heritage special last year, which - yup - paid tribute to the original GT40 victor, as it was finished in black with silver stripes.
Dave Pericak, global director for Ford Performance, said: "In creating a worthy successor to the '66 Heritage edition, we logically looked at our next historic Le Mans victory with the all-American team of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt. The Ford GT '67 Heritage edition pays homage to that win, with a modern take on one of the most important vehicles in Ford's storied history of racing."
The '67 Heritage features a gloss-finish Race Red exterior with a pair of white stripes running longitudinally down the car, plus an exposed carbon package. Frozen White 'No.1' bonnet and door decals complement the look, while one-piece forged aluminium wheels in silver satin clearcoat are secured with black wheel nuts. Red brake callipers and silver door mirror caps are the finishing touches on the outside of the Ford GT.
Within, there's new leather upholstery for the carbon fibre seats, which feature red accent stitching that is carried over to the steering wheel. The seatbelts are also red, while the paddle shifts are anodised grey, with satin dark stainless appliques on the instrument panel, door shuts and the cross-brace. Each Ford GT '67 Heritage edition also features a unique serialised identification plate, with more exposed carbon fibre on the door sills, air vents and centre console.
The Ford GT '67 Heritage edition can be viewed on the Ford website using the configuration tool. It will be produced in limited quantities for the forthcoming model year.
Anything else?
A little bit of weird history - after the MkII GT40 won in '66 and then the MkIV GT40 won in '67, Ford GT40s would go on to win Le Mans in both 1968 and 1969... but those winners were in earlier MkI guise. The reason for this was that FIA rules changed after '67, ruling out large capacity engines - so the 7.0-litre V8 that had propelled the MkII/MkIV vehicles to their wins was no longer eligible for competition. However, the 4.7-litre V8 in the MkI proved to do the job just fine...