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As automotive stories go, there are few more revered Chief Designer Camilo Pardo, applying a 21st-
than Dearborn’s historic bout with Maranello. century lens to Ford’s famed endurance racer.
It was born from business dealings gone sour The result was nothing short of sensational, a
and spurred on by some of the motoring world’s truly timeless design that peerlessly captured the
biggest characters: Enzo Ferrari, Carroll Shelby and GT’s racing heritage but also cast an eye toward
Henry Ford II, to name a few. Ford’s entrant, the tomorrow.
GT40, went down in history as one of the all-time When the GT40 concept car debuted at the 2002
great race cars, a proper thoroughbred elegant North American International Auto Show, it stirred
in its no-frills pursuit of speed. The GT40 was up a fair amount of excitement. The response was
instantly recognizable as pure ’60s racing theater; overwhelmingly favorable and Ford, just a short
it enjoyed wide haunches, scalloped intakes and a while later, announced to the world a production
rakish profile. So when Ford needed a car to make version was in the works. Internally known as
a statement and celebrate the company’s 100th “Petunia,” the project featured a contingent of 30
anniversary, they went back to Le Mans.
hand-selected engineers and designers to build a
From the onset, the new 2005 GT was billed as once-in-a-generation-type car: a world-class mid-
a road car, but 40 years of racing pedigree did engine warrior from Detroit.
not sit idly by – it shaped the car’s design, look The design was more than a repackaging of Ford’s
and performance. At first glance, Ford’s new GT greatest hits; it was something new, something to be
bore a striking resemblance to its GT40 ancestors. savored. And something the top brass at Ford Motor
Sketching for the GT began as early as 1999 with Company knew was worthy of commemorating
NO RESERVE - LOT #1415 AND #1375
SEEING DOUBLE SEEING DOUBLE
TWO 2005 FORD GTS READY TO CROSS THE BLOCK WITH NO RESERVE
NO RESERVE - LOT #1375
92 BARRETT-JACKSON EXPERIENCE SPRING 2021
92 BAR R ET T -JA C KS O N E X PE R I E N C E S PR I N G 2021