Ford Racing confirms production car for Detroit

2026 motorsport season launch will also see a new car revealed - get your guesses in...

By Matt Bird / Wednesday, 12 November 2025 / Loading comments

While so much of the car world as we knew it has changed, Detroit is still the beating heart of Stateside automotive. It’s not going to lose the Motor City tag, put it that way, especially with a motor show (remember those?) still happening regularly. It’s always a big deal for the US manufacturers, and especially Ford - that 2015 reveal of the GT350R, Raptor and a new GT really did stun the world.

A decade later, the Blue Oval is planning an equally attention grabbing Detroit presence. It’s going to have its own expo at the recently redone Michigan Central Station, ‘complementing the energy of the 2026 Detroit Auto Show happening the same week.’ Or diverting attention away perhaps - let’s see. Ford is making such a big deal of Detroit in January because it marks the start of one of its boldest motorsport seasons ever. Both the Red Bull teams will reveal their 2026 F1 racers, the very first time that’s happened (and with both using Red Bull Ford power, of course.) There hasn’t been a Ford presence in F1 for more than two decades, so this is momentous. Add those in with 2026 NASCARs, GT3 Mustangs, Dakar cars and more - ‘the entire line up’, says Ford - and January 15th promises to be quite the day.

Especially as there’s going to be a new production model to see as well. Some of it, at least. We’re promised an ‘exclusive sneak peek at an all-new Ford Racing production road car’ as part of the season launch. There are no details for the moment, only a promise that Ford is ‘integrating our racing innovation into the vehicles you drive every day.’ This new model surely won’t be another Mustang derivative, because the GTD represents the pinnacle (however much those thousand-horsepower Corvettes must grate).

Instead we must be anticipating another car like the GT. We had an iconic car for the 2000s, and the version for the 2010s replicated that famous Le Mans win in some style. It only seems right, another 10 years on, for the nameplate to be resurrected. Apparently we’re on the brink of ‘the most ambitious and electrifying era in Ford Racing history’; given the hybridisation of F1 engines, surely any roadgoing supercar will also employ an electrical element. It’s sort of the done thing with top-tier exotica these days, in much the same way that the Ecoboost V6 GT embraced (or you might even say kickstarted) the downsizing move from V8s to V6s. Whatever the reality, suffice it to say that expectations are very high for another once-in-a-decade Ford pin up.

Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Racing, added: “The racetrack is our ultimate proving ground, fast-tracking developments that will soon be under the hood and in the chassis of your next Ford… Our vision for Ford Racing is not just a concept; it's a tangible reality, and we genuinely cannot wait to share the true scale of our ambition.” Bring on January.