GT40 - Rehash or rebirth?

The most exciting news from Ford for decades or a desperate rehash of a legend?

By PH Staff / Monday, 7 January 2002 / Loading comments

It's probably one of the most exciting 'new' cars we've seen for some time. Although it's disappointing that Ford have to look to the past to reignite our passion for their cars, the news that Ford could be about to produce a modern version of the legendary GT40 will quicken the beat of every petrolhead's heart.

Ford insiders are making it clear that this is a concept vehicle rather than a fantasy vehicle and that the car could well end up in production. It's part of Ford's 'Living Legends' programme.

"GT40 is the ultimate Living Legend," explains J Mays, Ford vice president of Design. "It’s a true supercar with appeal equal to that of the greatest sports cars in the world, but with the addition of a heritage no one can match. Essential elements of the original – including the stunning low profile and mid-mounted American V-8 – continue in this latest interpretation of the classic."

While the new concept and the original both share the mystique of the GT40 name, they share not a single dimension. The concept is more than a foot and a half longer and stands nearly four inches taller, retaining elegant proportions and introducing subtle changes that give it a contemporary look.

The interior design incorporates the novel "ventilated seats" and instrument layout of the original car, with straightforward analog gauges and large tachometer. Modern versions of the original car’s toggle switches operate key systems.

"Like its namesake, the GT40 concept is not over-wrought with advanced technologies," Mays says. "While it represents the best of Ford design, engineering and expertise, it is a no-frills machine. You won't find voice-activated telematics here – not even power windows – just pure, refined performance."

Looking in through the backlight, one finds the essence of the sports car in the MOD 5.4-litre V-8 engine and its complex array of polished stainless-steel header pipes, braided stainless steel fuel lines with anodized aluminium fittings and supercharger with intercooler.

Chassis

As on the historic car, the composite body panels are unstressed. Instead of steel or honeycomb-composite tubs used in the 1960s, Ford’s SVT Engineering group developed an all-new aluminium spaceframe as the foundation for the GT40 concept.

The spaceframe consists of a central cabin section, a front suspension sub-section, and a rear powertrain-chassis cradle, bolted together for rigidity. While the original GT40s owed their chassis stiffness to a pair of beefy sills that doubled as fuel reservoirs, the new concept relies on a single center tunnel for its backbone. While greatly improving entry and exit, it has the added benefit of providing a structurally secure location for the fuel supply.

The concept's suspension has been fabricated almost entirely from scratch. The layout, front and rear, uses unequal-length control arms and a push-rod/bell-crank system to interface with the horizontally mounted spring-damper units. Mounting the spring-damper units horizontally allowed the designers to achieve the characteristic low-slung GT40 profile.

Braking is handled by six-piston aluminium Alcon calipers with cross-drilled and vented discs at all four corners.

Powertrain

The powerplant is an all-American V-8 from Ford's modular engine family. The MOD 5.4-litre V-8 in the GT40 concept features aluminium four-valve heads, forged crankshaft, H-beam forged rods and aluminium pistons fed by a supercharger, all combining to make more than 500 horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque!

These figures roughly match those of the 7 litre GT40 that won at Le Mans in 1966 and 1967. The power is put to the road through an RBT six-speed manual transmission.

Production?

The GT40 concept was created to foretell and test the future of exciting Ford cars to come. As with other Living Legends concepts – including the 1999 Thunderbird concept and Forty-Nine concept – the GT40 was engineered from the beginning for production feasibility.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Ford is about to be inundated with deposits - they will have to build this car!

PistonHeads' GT40 History, [links]GT40|gt40[/links]