Oh, I’m sorry, did you think the Ford GT LM was the final Ford GT? Not quite. Ford and its partner Multimatic have created a track-only sendoff with a modified carbon fiber body and a wicked 800 horsepower twin-turbo V6 to say au revoir to the Ford GT. Maybe. Who knows? Keep building Ford GTs. Never stop building Ford GTs.
The name is important. The original Ford GT40 that inspired these cars was impressive for a first start, but the car everyone remembers is the Ford GT40 Mk II that went on to finish 1-2-3 at Le Mans. But that wasn’t where Ford’s racing story ended. The company produced even more winning cars, including the long-and-fast Ford GT40 Mk IV that went on to win in 1967.
Appropriately, Multimatic (the Canadian company that builds these machines) is going to only build 67.
This car is the ultimate realization of what a Ford GT can be: the body is longer, it has a race transmission (assuming six-speed sequential, but Ford doesn’t say), the exterior has been redesigned to be more aerodynamic, it gets Multimatic’s Adaptive Spool Suspension, and the twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 is “targeting” 800 horsepower.
“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, 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.”
It seems like mission accomplished there. At $1.7 million it ain’t cheap, but maybe they can make one in Beauberry.
Read more on The Autopian
- What It’s Like Unboxing A 1-of-1 ‘Beauberry’ Ford GT
- The Final Edition Of The Ford GT Contains The Crushed Up Bones Of A Le Mans Racecar
- What It’s Like Unboxing A 1-of-1 ‘Beauberry’ Ford GT
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
I know a few people at Multimatic, and the various projects they build are at the pinnacle of road and race cars.
The interesting thing is that in Ontario, workers are paid about twice as much to build a generic Toyota as they would be to build this $1.7 million dollar hypercar.
Even though the skill set is much higher than the average line worker, building these special cars for the ultra rich doesn’t pay nearly enough to make a living here.
It’s kinda like how all the skyscrapers in Dubai were built by Indian laborers with no shoes.
Huh. One would think the ultra rich could afford to pay the workers who build these things enough to get by. I guess the crappy reasoning would be that workers should be happy they get to assemble special cars instead of boring cars, and the reward of building special cars makes up for the inability to afford basic necessities.
I’m waiting for $kaycog to weigh in on this.
She’ll need a few moments to compose herself.
Cars powered by really fast, tiny little hydrocarbon explosions, are done when our generation dies.
Like horses disappeared?
$1.7m
I’m getting in line for my next life.
it would be interesting to set this V6 with hair driers next to the 30 model year 2005 GT’s they pulled out of mothballs and installed proper 427 7.0L Roush Yates RY45TT v8 engine, also with a couple of hair dryers to boot.
My favorite feature about the OG MKIV is the spare tire. Not kidding the one at the Henry Ford had the decklid open to show the engine, sitting back on the left rear was spare tire
I’ve always wondered (I’ve never been able to get close enough to see) if they have lighters/ash trays as well.
You know at least half the drivers were smoking during the race back then…
That was a requirement for Le Mans sports car rules at the time. They had to have 2 seats, a luggage compartment, and a spare tire.
wait so the MKIV also has a frunk?
That Hot Wheels paint job and those “headlights” are giving me funny feelings in my unmentionable area that aren’t related to indigestion
I always thought Ford missed a similar opportunity to have called the 2005 model the MK III…
And 67 more great cars head for climate-controlled garages, never again to see the light of day.
Except for when they are carted off to Mecum or Barret-Jackson.
Maybe Jay Leno will get one instead.
Or one of those kooks who race at Goodwood like Mark Walker, the dude famous for ripping around in a 1905 Darracq.
Damn, that thing’s V8 had individual cylinders with more displacement than most current cars’ entire engines! Early ICE technology sure was weird, before they figured out what actually worked and what didn’t.
For this reason, I do think a lot of younger enthusiasts are missing out by overlooking antique cars. They’re mechanically bizarre in so many wildly creative ways, it’s fascinating to look into. Sure, most of it didn’t work out in the end, but you have to admire how innovative it all was. Cars had so much character when there was no real sense of how they should be built. Jay Leno’s Garage is a treasure trove of weird and interesting old cars like that, so at least in that way people can still learn about them.
Yeah but rather more will no doubt come to Gran Turismo/ Forza. They could almost sell an NFT version for use in the games.
Great point. Ala Ready Player One, how long before certain vehicles are released in both real and virtual versions I wonder? And at least in the virtual world, I bet actual brochures your avatar can page through will be available.