Page 27 - Experience Magazine Spring 2022

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“OUR PLAN WAS CLEAR,” NAIR SAID OF THE GT’S DEVELOPMENT. HE ADDED THAT IT WAS
A TEST BED FOR ENGINE DEVELOPMENT AND NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT WOULD PUSH THE
BOUNDARIES OF THE MATERIALS USED. “WE HAD TO STRETCH OUR UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT WAS POSSIBLE WITH AERODYNAMICS.”
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The result? Nair assembled a small team to “Our plan was clear,” Nair said of the GT’s
work on the ultra-top-secret car in a ultra-top- development. He added that it was a test bed
secret room at Ford’s development center in for engine development and new technology
Dearborn, MI. that would push the boundaries of the
materials used. Nair said, “We had to stretch
Named “Project Phoenix” — as it rose from the
ashes of the failed Mustang program — the new our understanding of what was possible with
Ford GT was designed from the start to be both aerodynamics.”
a street car and a racing machine. Adding to the development, a few years later the
One by one, Nair brought in the top Ford 2020 Ford GT was given a lightweight sculpted
executives as the GT came together, which carbon-fiber body with a unique clear coat over
moved the car’s development forward and the exposed carbon-fiber weave. It received new
ultimately led to first- and third-place finishes buttress air ducts to increase airflow by 50%
at the Le Mans in June 2016. and increased suspension damping to enhance
handling and body control further.

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