In the early 1960s few companies hated each other more than Ford and Ferrari.
Henry Ford II had been trying to add Enzo's prancing horse to his corporate stables for years.
The two had agreed to terms and the paper work was ready to sign.
At the last minute Enzo backed out And Ford was pissed.
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The blue oval wanted blood, and the battleground would be the epic endurance race at Le Mans.
It took a few tries, but in 1966 Ford got their victory, beating Ferrari with the epic GT 40, one of the most iconic and beautiful shapes ever to turn a wheel in anger.
In 2016, 50 years after that incredible victory, Ford once again won at Le Mans with this, the grandchild of the GT40.
It's the Ford GTLM, but this time just winning on the track wasn't good enough.
Ford wanted to bring that race experience to the road.
And we're about to find out if they succeeded.
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Welcome to the brand new Ford GT.
It's the road going version of Ford Le Mans winning racer.
And those two cars have a lot in common, starting with this incredible shape.
The silhouette is impossibly low, a lot like that original GT-40, but don't call this a retro amish.
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The low hood is punctured by pair of massive scoops that pull air through the magic radiator and also provide down force along the way.
Those lead to an absolutely massive windshield that's made of Corning Gorilla Glass.
Yes the same stuff that keeps your smart phone safe.
The car is so low that windshield looks like it's almost completely horizontal, but it does subtly wrap around a petite cabin, and a pair of doors that open up not out.
Keep moving to the rear, and that's where things start to get a little bit weird.
Look back here and you might think that Ford forget to finish assembling this thing.
But it's the empty space that defines the GT.
The rear wheels and suspension are wholly separated from the main body of the car, which is really more like a few sludge of an airplane.
Connecting the two is this downward sloping wing that looks sharp enough to shave with.
Flying buttresses are almost cliche in super cars these days, but none on the road are nearly as dramatic as this.
They're structural, and they also serve to feed air around the 650 horsepower 3.5 liter V6 that's practically shrink wrapped in the body work.
That engine started its life in the back of one of Ford's Daytona prototype racers.
Then an evolved version went on to power the Ford GT to its [UNKNOWN] victory.
In fact the performance of this car is so close to that of the racers, I think I might want a costume change.
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That's better.
Now the inside of the 4GT is a lot like the race car too, that's is very bare and very, very focused.
We've got a lot of raw carbon fiber in here and even exposed structural elements.
I can stick my hand right through the dashboard here.
There aren't a whole lot of buttons, yes I've got some buttons for traction control and suspension down here, and I've got a full sync 3 system in the dashboard, which means I can even run Android Auto in the 4 GT.
But just about everything that I need to control this car is right on the steering wheel.
Everything from the headlights to the windshield wipers, the turn signals, everything is right here.
But there's still one more button I am going to need and that is the engine start button.
It is down here by my knee.
[LAUGH].
Now that the engine is running I can toggle through the drove modes through this selector right here on the wheel.
We are in normal mode at the moment we have got a wet mode.
I can go into sport mode or I can go all the way to track mode which is the one we want because that is exactly where we are heading.
Hit the OK button to select here, and the car drops down, hunkers down, and we're ready to roll.
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The 647 horsepower from that 3.5 liter engine is routed through the rear wheels via a seven speed dual clutch transmission.
And it's good enough to get the car to 60 in well under three seconds.
And on up to a top speed of 216 miles an hour, making this Ford's fastest production car ever.
We won't be going quite that quickly today.
The front straight here at Ford's performance racing school in Utah is pretty short but why don't we see what we can do shall we?
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There's 60.
70.
80.
90.
100.
110.
120.
130.
Okay.
[LAUGH].
So pretty good.
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But of course, it's not all about top speed.
Handling is even more important in a car like this, and weight is the biggest factor there.
With its light weight but durable carbon-fiber construction, the Ford GT lays just a little over 3,000 pounds.
That's barely more than a Porsche Cayman, despite the GT having twice the horsepower.
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Driving on the track,
You can definitely feel it.
This car is over 300 pounds lighter than a Ferrari 488 GTB.
It's as light as the incredible McLaren 675LT.
And it just feels so alive out here.
It's incredibly responsive to everything that you do.
It's dancing around.
It's moving.
It feels [LAUGH] really, really good.
And, this steering weight is unlike either of those other two cars.
It's actually very heavy.
The feedback is incredible.
I feel like I can feel every little You'll see in the asphalt every little crack.
Every little bit of pick up I can feel right to the steering.
Feels absolutely incredible.
And of course I've got active aerodynamics helping to keep me planted to the track too.
The giant wing is basically filling up my rear view mirror.
And every time I hit the brakes it flips up.
Which is a little bit distracting if I'm honest.
[LAUGH] But pretty damn cool.
On the way with the 4T This is incredibly balanced, it is impeccably stowed.
It will do basically anything that you want it to do.
Come in and charge too hard late in the corner, it'll [UNKNOWN] for sure.
Get your foot down too early, it'll [UNKNOWN] you for sure.
But it is very, very beautifully balanced, it feels so, so super good.
And when you come around.
So the last corner, get on the front straight and put your foot down.
It will just go, and go, and go until you run out of road.
[LAUGH]
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It's all helped by this incredible cockpit, which is just wrapping around me like a glove.
I feel like Everything is easily within reach, and I've got great visibility out front.
But I can tell, I can't really see anything that's going on behind me.
Which makes me a little bit worried about what this things gonna be like to drive Feels great.
So maybe it's time to take off the helmet and see what the Ford GT can do in the real world.
I think I'll keep the suit on though, this thing's comfy.
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Now that I've lost the helmet but kept the helmet hair, I've gained a little bit of head room, which is good because there's not a whole lot to offer.
I'm leaning all the way back and my head Head is still firmly pressed up against the headliner which is a very nice Alcantara by the way.
And when I say leaned back, I mean leaned back.
The driving position in this car is about the most aggressive of any I've ever been in.
I feel like I'm in a Formula One car here with my knees up behind the steering wheel, lying flat on my back.
And that feels great on the track.
Out here on the road I'm a little worried that might get uncomfortable.
Go on for a couple of hours.
And this seat isn't very adjustable, and in fact the bottom of the seat is bolted to the chassis of the car.
You can adjust the recline a little bit, but the only other adjustment you've got is by moving the pedals forward or backward.
You pull on the strap here and you can push them out if you want, or let them move out forward to get in the perfect position.
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And then there's the sound of the thing, that V6 which I think sounds amazing on the track, is just really really drone-y out here on the road.
And really really loud.
You can also hear every piece of gravel that's kicked up by those Miele front tires and there's a bit of wind noise.
Is it.
Overall, this is just a pretty loud place to be.
And honestly, it's a little but of an uncomfortable place to be, too, if you've got a long drive to get to the track.
If you're looking for something comfortable, maybe you should call your Aston Martin dealer.
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But if you don't care about the noise, and if you don't mind being a little bit uncomfortable, Frankly if you're interested in a car like this, none other things should bother you.This car is a really great car for attacking the twists.
If you put it in sport mode it appeals absolutely perfect.
Track is probably a little bit too harsh for the streets.
But [UNKNOWN] it's just perfect.
The grip is immense.
The throttle response is great.
That steering feel is still remarkable.
And I'm Having a really, really good time out here.
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But I think though we got to go back to the track.
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At the end of the day the track is definitely the best place to feel, and appreciate what the Ford GT is.
A lot of people are gonna compare this to the 488, MacClaren 675 but this is a very different car, it feels very different to drive.
It is frankly a lot more involving.
Frankly, a little bit harder to drive too.
But this is an all American super car.
And I have the greatest respect for that.
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