“There’s no substitue for cubic inches” is an old car saying obviously originating in the US, where the preference has always been (and still is, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent) for large engine volumes and more cylinders. As we today round up what has a bit unplanned become a number of posts on US cars lately (you may have seen the previous recent posts on the ultra rare Studebaker Avanti and the film-star DeLorean), we’ll take a closer look at what is to my mind the only real modern US supercar, and one that delivers far more than only cubic inches: the truly great Ford GT.

Obviously there’s not one but rather three generations of Ford GT’s: the original car from the 60’s called Ford GT40, shown in the banner of this post, (40 being the height of the car in inches, corresponding to 102 cm), of which only 134 were produced between 1964 and 1968. 40 years later, Ford gave itself a 100-year birthday present in the form of the Ford GT (no numbers in the name but the new car was 44 inches high, i.e. 9 cm taller than the 60’s car) that we’ll look closer at today. Ford’s 100-year anniversary corresponded more or less to the 40-year anniversary of the original GT40 and to the first year of production of the GT, 2004 (Ford was in fact created in 1903).

Finally, in 2017 Ford brought out the new GT. Still in production, this was obviously a new car but one that looked pretty much like the old, and with as most visible difference to the -04 version a more modern double-turbo six-cylinder replacing the supercharged V8. The new GT was also developed as a track car, which its predecessor isn’t. Oh, and then there’s the small detail around the price, with the new GT having a price tag of around a million as new, and anything in the secondary market not coming much cheaper. That makes the previous version a bit of a bargain, and as discussed below, at least from some angles a better option!

When the GT came out in 2004 it was conceptually a very traditional and rather analogue supercar developed for the road. The big engine was a 5.4l V8 with a supercharger, mid-mounted and producing 558 hp (thanks to an easy ECU-modification, many cars put out 600-700 hp…). The car is of course rear-wheel drive with a six-speed manual transmission. So far so good. But the real analogue nature of the car becomes clear when you learn that the GT has no technical driving aides – at all! This is of course unthinkable in a modern supercar and means it’s really up to you and the big V8 in the back – as it should be.

The development of the GT was led by Ford’s long time CTO and head of product development, Richard Parry Jones. He’s notably well-known for suggesting that building a supercar is easy compared to building an excellent car for the masses, and given how great the GT is and how not-very-great for example the Mondeo is, another car Parry Jones led the development of, he seems to be on to something. Then again it would also seem he’s more apt at the former task than the latter. Coming back to the car, Parry Jones and Ford gave it a great chassis, a fantastic balance, good breaks, a great stickshift with a clutch as easy as in a Fiesta, and also a precise and well-balanced steering. This was all very surprising given, well, that it’s a Ford, but it all contributed to a great total package, obviously with the supercharged 8-cylinder as the cherry on the cake. Again the car does without any traction control and those not careful enough will quickly need a couple of new rear wheels as the car willingly spins them in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear, given the massive torque of 774 Nm!

Approaching a GT means approaching a truly great-looking supercar. The influences from the 60’s original are clear but in my humble opinion, Ford hasn’t fallen in the retro-trap but rather created a car that just looks good. It does so on the inside as well, although here the heritage from the wider Ford family shines through in some switches and instruments. Then again some controls are proper to the GT, so overall it’s an ok interior. The two coolest features are the rev counter, that sits right in front of you in the middle of the gauge cluster, vs the speedometer that sits halfway to the passenger, and secondly the fact that the stick shift is tilted towards you. There are however drawbacks as well, and not just the Ford family switches: firstly the doors include a large part of the roof (the price to pay when you build a car that’s only 111 cm tall…), meaning you need to watch your head carefully and basically open them fully to enter, which isn’t really great in tight parking garages. The second, even more serious drawback is that the car has no room for luggage, neither up front where insted of a trunk the various fluids etc. are located, nor in the cabin itself, meaning you can’t take what is arguably one of the greatest drives out there for a weekend trip, unless you buy what you need when you get to your destination. Then again, if you can afford the car, maybe that’s what you do…

When the GT came out in -04, its competitors were the usual suspects from Modena (360 and 430), Sant’ Agata (Gallardo) and Zuffenhausen (given the power, the 911 Turbo and conceptually, even the Carrera GT). Nobody would buy a Ford for the badge in this company, especially since it’s today the most expensive of the bunch (except for the Carrera GT), but you may well do so for the quality of the car, assuming you don’t need luggage. There is also advantages associated with the Ford badge, such as the car being far more solid and less of a primadonna than some of the named competitors. Again, it’s a Ford, and although it will cost more than a Fiesta to service, you’ll be quite far away from other supercars in terms of maintenance. And to me, it’s by far the best looking of the bunch!

When the GT was new it cost between USD 150.000-200.000 depending on market. Today you can expect to pay at least 50-100% more, and actually the GT never lost value, always trading at or above the initial selling price. Around 4.000 were built between 2004-2006, showing that a small number of a great car is a good way to keep values strong. A couple of special edition cars have gone through the roof in terms of pricing, but EUR 250.000-300.000 buys you a truly great, real American supercar!