Ford GT

The Ford GT began as a concept car designed in anticipation of Ford's centennial year and as part of its drive to showcase and revive its "heritage" names such as Mustang and Thunderbird. Camilo Pardo, the head of Ford's "Living Legends" studio, is credited as the chief designer of the GT and worked under the guidance of J Mays. The designers drew inspiration from Ford's classic GT40 race cars of the 1960s and the GT is sometimes mistaken for its 1960s counterpart.

Positive response on the auto show circuit in 2002 helped persuade the company to produce the car in limited quantities, and the first production versions appeared in 2003. It is a very high-performance, two-seater vehicle with a strong styling resemblance to its racing ancestor and performance to match. The powerplant is a mid-mounted supercharged 5.4 liter V8, producing 550 horsepower (410 kW) and 500 foot-pounds (678 Nm) of torque. Top speed is 212 mph (339 km/h).

Production startup began in spring 2004. The first customers took delivery in September 2004. The GT was assembled and painted by Saleen in their Saleen Special Vehicles facility in Troy, Michigan. The GT is powered by an engine built at Ford's Romeo Engine Plant in Romeo, Michigan. Installation of the engine and transmission along with interior finishing was handled in the SVT building at Ford's Wixom, Michigan plant.

Of the 4,500 GTs originally planned, approximately 100 were to be exported to Europe, starting in late 2005. An additional 200 were destined for sale in Canada. When production ended in 2006, the full planned lot of 4500 were not produced. Approximately 550 were built in 2004, nearly 1900 in 2005, and just over 1600 in 2006, for a grand total of 4038.

As with many highly desirable new vehicles, when the Ford GT was first released, the demand severely outpaced supply, and the cars initially sold for premium prices. The first unit available to the public sold at a charity auction for over $500,000 to a retired Microsoft executive. Other early cars sold for as much as a $300,000 premium over the suggested retail price range of $450,000 to $700,000 depending on selected optional equipment. Starting in 2007, the average price for a new Ford GT was down to $100,000. By June 2005, retail sale prices had dropped to around $10,000 to $20,000 over MSRP, and in August 2005 several new GTs were sold on eBay for no more than the suggested retail price. Nevertheless, recognizing that there was ongoing demand and support for the car, Ford raised the base sticker by $10,000 to $150,000 in late 2005.

The production run of the GT ended with the 2006 model year on 21 September 2006, with 4038 cars produced, and the Wixom Assembly plant, where the GT was finish-assembled, is scheduled for closure in 2007. Sales of the GT continued into 2007, from cars held in storage and in dealer inventories.