Sports Car Forum - MotorWorld.net - View Single Post - Did Ford do what they wanted to with the GT?

Guibo · 07-20-2005, 04:32 AM

OK, you guys talking about it as if the GT was some big deal for Ford. It's not. It was only originally conceived as a tribute to the original GT40. An image car. One that might make it to production in time for Ford's centennial, but only if the GT factions within Ford had their way (and not those who favored the Forty-Nine concept).
Then they unveil it at the Detroit auto show and suddenly people are saying they want to buy it. Not just one or two people. But LOTS. Some who were old enough to have remembered the original GT40's coming across the line at La Sarthe.
From there, at a breakneck development pace, Ford worked on the GT. But only after Ford bigwigs demanded it meet the timetable, and they made it clear that it was not a priority project. Remember, Ford was bleeding for money at the time, so a limited-production 2-seat exotic was most certainly NOT the best way to go. There would certainly have been no green light had the GT supporters targeted the Enzo. Which, frankly, wasn't even on the market at the time. Only the 360 was the known benchmark. Not even the Stradale had been released yet. But nevermind, the Ford GT would beat even that car (which had super-sticky P Zero Corsas no less).
And in the latest C&D comparo, it not only outruns the F430 in a straight line, but slightly beats its lap time on the road course. This in a car that is geared for intergalactic travel with a 212-mph top end (since limited to 205 mph).
Forget about the 360 Modena, the Ford outdoes the stripped track-focused Challenge Stradale, and keeps pace (and even outperforms by some margin) the brand new F430. And easily takes all of them on for GT purposes.
"Ferrari Slayer"? That was C&D's headline writing. Not Ford's advertising.

Instead of slagging off Ford, maybe some of you guys should appreciate that a company known more for family sedans and pickup trucks has stepped up and delivered to the world another interpretation of what a supercar can be.

Resale...that's hard to say at this point. You can find F355's for well less than half of their original value nowadays. The same is likely to happen for the F360, which accounts for about 65% of Ferrari's annual production of roughly 4200 cars. That's about 13,000 Modenas over a 5-year run. Ford has only planned 4500 GT's, which might then be replaced by the Shelby GR1. Which, frankly, should do little to nothing to impact GT market prices. Ferrari V8's, however, will always become somewhat stale with the next model revision. And in affluent places outside of the US, they will no doubt be considerably more common than the GT.
360's can be seen changing hands for as low as $105-115K:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4560512677
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4560583242
And that's not even talking about Ferrari shop/labor prices.

Fuel economy. EPA numbers:
360 Modena - 11/16
Ford GT - 14/21
Before you say "well, nobody ever gets EPA numbers"...doesn't matter. Both cars would have been tested under identical conditions over the same simulated routes on a rolling treadmill. And the fact remains that the GT delivered better economy. In the recent C&D comparo, with all cars driven over the same exact roads, the GT did slightly better than the F430: 12 mpg vs 11 in mixed driving (and they readily admit to driving like "valets on crystal meth").

07-20-2005, 04:32 AM	#46
Guibo Regular User Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 142	OK, you guys talking about it as if the GT was some big deal for Ford. It's not. It was only originally conceived as a tribute to the original GT40. An image car. One that might make it to production in time for Ford's centennial, but only if the GT factions within Ford had their way (and not those who favored the Forty-Nine concept). Then they unveil it at the Detroit auto show and suddenly people are saying they want to buy it. Not just one or two people. But LOTS. Some who were old enough to have remembered the original GT40's coming across the line at La Sarthe. From there, at a breakneck development pace, Ford worked on the GT. But only after Ford bigwigs demanded it meet the timetable, and they made it clear that it was not a priority project. Remember, Ford was bleeding for money at the time, so a limited-production 2-seat exotic was most certainly NOT the best way to go. There would certainly have been no green light had the GT supporters targeted the Enzo. Which, frankly, wasn't even on the market at the time. Only the 360 was the known benchmark. Not even the Stradale had been released yet. But nevermind, the Ford GT would beat even that car (which had super-sticky P Zero Corsas no less). And in the latest C&D comparo, it not only outruns the F430 in a straight line, but slightly beats its lap time on the road course. This in a car that is geared for intergalactic travel with a 212-mph top end (since limited to 205 mph). Forget about the 360 Modena, the Ford outdoes the stripped track-focused Challenge Stradale, and keeps pace (and even outperforms by some margin) the brand new F430. And easily takes all of them on for GT purposes. "Ferrari Slayer"? That was C&D's headline writing. Not Ford's advertising. Instead of slagging off Ford, maybe some of you guys should appreciate that a company known more for family sedans and pickup trucks has stepped up and delivered to the world another interpretation of what a supercar can be. Resale...that's hard to say at this point. You can find F355's for well less than half of their original value nowadays. The same is likely to happen for the F360, which accounts for about 65% of Ferrari's annual production of roughly 4200 cars. That's about 13,000 Modenas over a 5-year run. Ford has only planned 4500 GT's, which might then be replaced by the Shelby GR1. Which, frankly, should do little to nothing to impact GT market prices. Ferrari V8's, however, will always become somewhat stale with the next model revision. And in affluent places outside of the US, they will no doubt be considerably more common than the GT. 360's can be seen changing hands for as low as $105-115K: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4560512677 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4560583242 And that's not even talking about Ferrari shop/labor prices. Fuel economy. EPA numbers: 360 Modena - 11/16 Ford GT - 14/21 Before you say "well, nobody ever gets EPA numbers"...doesn't matter. Both cars would have been tested under identical conditions over the same simulated routes on a rolling treadmill. And the fact remains that the GT delivered better economy. In the recent C&D comparo, with all cars driven over the same exact roads, the GT did slightly better than the F430: 12 mpg vs 11 in mixed driving (and they readily admit to driving like "valets on crystal meth").