Production of the Ford GT supercar will soon come to an end, but it is about to begin again in a roundabout way.
Ford currently sells the $500,000 GT that was launched in 2017, but is wrapping up the run in the coming weeks with 20 GT LM Edition street cars and 67 Ford GT MK IV track cars, priced at $1.7 million each.
The MK IV is set to be powered by an 800 hp version of Ford’s 3.5-liter turbocharged V6, the most potent version of the engine ever made.
This generation followed a GT that was inspired by the Le Mans racers of the 1960s and built from 2004 through 2006 with a 550 hp supercharged V8 that could power it to 205 mph.
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Ford built just over 4,000 of the 2004 to 2006 GT. (Ford)
Many have found second lives as modified top speed competition cars, with one 2,700 hp example recently claiming the all-time record for a street legal car at 310. 8 mph. However, you’ll soon be able to buy a brand new one again.
Fred Calero is a serial entrepreneur and Ford GT superfan. He owns a 2005, a 2006 and a 2020. One day while reading a GT internet forum he came across an interesting bit of information. It turns out that Ford built several dozen extra GT chassis to keep around for spare parts for repairs, but after more than a decade it did not need to keep them anymore.
The Ford GT chassis had only a roof. (GT1)
Calero got the idea to buy one and turn it into a track car. Then, his friend and colleague Jeremy Sutton, who worked for Ford’s SVT division when it originally developed the GT, encouraged him to grab the whole lot. There were 30 in all, so Calero set up a new company called GT1 to develop a complete car.
It acquired the carbon fiber body molds from Swiss racing outfit Matech, which built competition versions for endurance racing, and tweaked them for higher production and the latest aerodynamic strategies. A new high performance suspension was also designed.
The GT1 features an updated version of the Matech racing body. (GT1)
GT1 set up shop in a garage at the M1 Concourse private racetrack in Pontiac, Michigan, and installed a Roush Yates turbocharged 7.0-liter V8 engine with 1,400 hp that is essentially an aluminum block version of an older NASCAR engine.
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The car can accelerate to 60 mph in less than three seconds and exceed 200 mph despite the high downforce wing it has that was not featured on the more streamlined factory GT.
The GT1 can accelerate to 60 mph in under 3 seconds. (GT1)
The three-year project has resulted in a fully functional prototype and the company is now focusing on getting ready to move out of the garage and ramp up production, likely with a manufacturing partner.
The GT1 is strictly for track use. (GT1)
GT1 plans to complete four customer cars next year at an estimated price of $1.2 million, then increase the output to four per quarter until it runs out of chassis.
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Calero has owned several companies, mostly in the medical field, but told Fox News Digital that "none have consumed me like this. It’s what I love."