The original Ford GT was created to celebrate to the company’s centenary year in 2003, with production kicking off in late 2004.
Ford produced 4,000 examples of the GT, which was met with enthusiasm from both the media and fans. Around 100 cars were imported to Europe officially, and out of those only 28 were offered in the UK – all in left-hand drive configuration, as Ford didn’t make any RHD ones.
Harry Metcalfe takes us for a tour around one of the original UK-supplied GTs, which shows just over 3,100 miles on the odometer, sharing his valuable knowledge about the American supercar.
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Power came from a wonderfully sonorous supercharged 5.4-liter V8 with a dry sump that produces a very healthy 550 HP (558 PS) and 500 lb-ft (678 Nm) of torque. A slick six-speed manual transmission from Ricardo was the only option – happily, at that time, dual-clutch ‘boxes hadn’t taken over yet…
Back in the day, the Ford GT provided near-identical pace with the much more exotic Pagani Zonda C12S for the MSRP price of a Ferrari 360, making it one hell of a deal. Add to that the friendliness of the chassis under pressure and the feedback provided to the driver and it’s no wonder that a certain UK media outlet called it “an Elise with 550 HP”.
What’s even greater is that the engine provides plenty of firepower from really low revs, making it a very usable car to just tootle around. Frustratingly, however, Ford didn’t give the GT any luggage space, which would make it ideal for short escape trips.
Overall, the previous-gen Ford GT is one wonderful supercar that only gets better with time, and apparently the classic car market has taken notice, driving values higher than ever.