Last year for the GT.
Ford Motor Company will reveal the 2021 Ford GT in partnership with the Peterson Automotive Museum’s Car Week Sunday, highlighting two new variants of the Ford GT supercar – including a special-edition that honors its earliest endurance racing roots.
The Ford GT reveal marks the final day of Petersen Car Week, which started airing Wednesday on the Petersen Museum’s YouTube channel. Highlights include several virtual events featuring 25 hours of original content from manufacturers and enthusiasts, plus automotive lifestyle and auction house activities.
To watch the reveal of Ford Performance’s latest iteration of the Ford GT Sunday at 11:30 a.m. EDT, see the Petersen Museum’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/PetersenMuseum.
Birth of the Ford GT
A terse news wire release was issued on May 22, 1963, noting, “Ford Motor Company and Ferrari wish to indicate, with reference to recent reports of their negotiations toward a possible collaboration that such negotiations have been suspended by mutual agreement.”
The negotiations between the companies had ended, but Ford’s desire to become a player in performance motorsports remained strong. A month later, Ford formed the High Performance and Special Models Operation Unit with the mission to design and build “a racing GT car that will have the potential to compete successfully in major road races such as Sebring and Le Mans.” The unit’s resulting work, the GT Program book, circulated internally on June 12, 1963, and contained the initial design concepts for the GT40.
Three years would pass before the Ford Performance team and Shelby Automotive fulfilled Henry Ford II’s goal to beat Ferrari at Le Mans. Those three years were filled will hard work and more than a few failures. As work continued to perfect the car, the 1966 24-hour endurance race at Daytona would prove to be the coming out party for the GT40 Mark II, a car that would go on to become an endurance racing legend – and is being celebrated in the 2021 model year.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Petersen Museum Reveals Latest Ford GT Sunday
Last year for the GT.
Ford Motor Company will reveal the 2021 Ford GT in partnership with the Peterson Automotive Museum’s Car Week Sunday, highlighting two new variants of the Ford GT supercar – including a special-edition that honors its earliest endurance racing roots.
The Ford GT reveal marks the final day of Petersen Car Week, which started airing Wednesday on the Petersen Museum’s YouTube channel. Highlights include several virtual events featuring 25 hours of original content from manufacturers and enthusiasts, plus automotive lifestyle and auction house activities.
To watch the reveal of Ford Performance’s latest iteration of the Ford GT Sunday at 11:30 a.m. EDT, see the Petersen Museum’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/PetersenMuseum.
Birth of the Ford GT
A terse news wire release was issued on May 22, 1963, noting, “Ford Motor Company and Ferrari wish to indicate, with reference to recent reports of their negotiations toward a possible collaboration that such negotiations have been suspended by mutual agreement.”
The negotiations between the companies had ended, but Ford’s desire to become a player in performance motorsports remained strong. A month later, Ford formed the High Performance and Special Models Operation Unit with the mission to design and build “a racing GT car that will have the potential to compete successfully in major road races such as Sebring and Le Mans.” The unit’s resulting work, the GT Program book, circulated internally on June 12, 1963, and contained the initial design concepts for the GT40.
Three years would pass before the Ford Performance team and Shelby Automotive fulfilled Henry Ford II’s goal to beat Ferrari at Le Mans. Those three years were filled will hard work and more than a few failures. As work continued to perfect the car, the 1966 24-hour endurance race at Daytona would prove to be the coming out party for the GT40 Mark II, a car that would go on to become an endurance racing legend – and is being celebrated in the 2021 model year.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.