Any FGT obscure trivia, rare facts, oddities?

[dtomaso1]

OK, Spill it! Trivia related to design, testing, production, sales, ownership, operation, service.

 

[HHGT]

What was the most challenging aspect of the design to Camilo?

 

[fjpikul]

Jamal Hameedi is from Belleville, IL.

 

[Nardo GT]

Red cars are the fastest.

 

[BlackICE]

Red cars are the fastest.

Will we see if that is true in TX. Somehow I don't think so. :biggrin

 

[Empty Pockets]

What was the most challenging aspect of the design to Camilo?

Keeping the silhouette of the GT exactly the same as the GT40 and still being able to stuff all the 21st Century goodies inside.

 

[PL510*Jeff]

Getting the Funding approved to go into production.:usa

 

[Neilda]

Aston Martin Vanquish steering rack and Aston brake calipers - Ford of course owned Aston.

I'm sure Lotus had something to do with the chassis design too.

 

[Happy Feet]

The first challenge was finding Aphrodite (Goddess of love) then capturing her beauty, her curves, her raw lust in the lines of the GT. Camilo, got her drunk and had his way with her! I got proof she is in my garage!

Happpy

 

[FordGTGuy]

Most of the aerodynamic changes to the car are on the underbelly so not to disturb the shape of the car. The Ford GT uses curved glass to have a standard electric window and it took them awhile to come to a final decision on how the window would work. The original Ford GT-40 was originally just called Ford GT and gained the nickname Ford GT-40. Ford GT-40 was never trademarked by Ford Motor Company which is one of the reasons the new Ford GT is called just 'Ford GT'. The V8 in the Ford GT was created side by side with the vehicle development and is unique to the Ford GT. The Lamborghini Muira was designed to look like the original Ford GT-40. Ford left Le Mans in 67 the 68 and 69 wins were by private parties using Ford GT-40's. The Ford GT was originally designed to combat the Ferrari 360 but turned out being much more even besting the Ferrari F430(the 360's replacement). At the time the Ford GT came out it was one of the cheapest 200 mph from factory cars available to buy. Ferrari's first V8 supercar to achieve 200 mph will come out in 2010 as the Ferrari 458 and will still have a top speed 10 mph slower than the Ford GT. One of the reasons for the GT-40's creation was Henry Ford II's Italian girlfriend who said an American car could never beat an Italian car on a track(This is a true story not sure if I have the facts straight on it though). The Ford GT mule taken to a racetrack for its first time against a Ferrari 360 consistently bested the 360 by 3-4 seconds, the Ford GT mule was using a 400 hp Cobra R engine(150 hp short of the final engine). The first Ferrari 360 used against a Ford GT mule was bought by Ford for the comparison and had a bumper stick that said 'I'd Rather Be Driving My FORD GT' the 360 broke down during the comparison race(I think the clutch broke).

Even though continually blasted by Top Gear for having bad mpg in the episode where they took a Pagani Zonda and Ferrari F430 Spyder though France the Ford GT actually has a better mpg rating than both the Pagani Zonda and Ferrari F430 Spyder.

Ford GT 13 City / 21 Highway
Pagani Zonda C12 S 11 City / 19 Highway
Ferrari F430 Spyder 11 City / 16 Highway

Egill Jóhannsson drove a Ford GT in a fuel consumption driving contest in Iceland in 2008 and made 28.10 mpg.

 

[centerpunch]

The Lamborghini Muira was designed to look like the original Ford GT-40.

According to who?

 

[FordGTGuy]

According to who?

I was watching a show can't remember exactly which but a guy who worked at Lamborghini said that. I will see if I can't find it for you. Not completely sure but I think he also mentioned that what Ford did with the GT-40 inspired Lamborghini who already started a rivalry with Ferrari over their gearbox.

Ok Can't remember for the life of me where I saw the show(I think it also included an inside look into the Lamborghini factory) but I saw it quite a while ago.

Here is a mention of it from Wikipedia

Inspired by the Ford GT40, the Miura astonished showgoers at the 1965 Turin Motor Show where only the chassis was shown, with multiple orders being placed despite the lack of an actual body.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Miura

 

[ETW]

The Ford GT mule taken to a racetrack for its first time against a Ferrari 360 consistently bested the 360 by 3-4 seconds, the Ford GT mule was using a 400 hp Cobra R engine(150 hp short of the final engine).

I remember this from the documentary. I thought it was running the 03 Cobra 4.6l S/C motor rather than the 2000 Cobra R 5.4l N/A?

 

[FordGTGuy]

I remember this from the documentary. I thought it was running the 03 Cobra 4.6l S/C motor rather than the 2000 Cobra R 5.4l N/A?

Was it? I know it was a Cobra engine I don't have the Documentary right now i'll have to check it out and get my facts straight.

 

[Fubar]

I'm sure Lotus had something to do with the chassis design too.

Say it ain't so. No offense to my friends across the pond but I have heard it said that the original GT was more a British car than an American one. This sentiment has been repeated (off the cuff) about the newest rendition of the GT as well. I take great pleasure in politely correcting this rumor. It was my understanding that the only British contribution was the Recardo transmission. Ironically the British transmission was a major failing point on the 60's GT.

 

[FordGTGuy]

Say it ain't so. No offense to my friends across the pond but I have heard it said that the original GT was more a British car than an American one. This sentiment has been repeated (off the cuff) about the newest rendition of the GT as well. I take great pleasure in politely correcting this rumor. It was my understanding that the only British contribution was the Recardo transmission. Ironically the British transmission was a major failing point on the 60's GT.

The level of European connection determined on which version of the car your talking about I would think. The GT-40 MK I was a British car however the MK IV was built in America from the ground up using the latest aerodynamic technologies.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Say it ain't so. No offense to my friends across the pond but I have heard it said that the original GT was more a British car than an American one. This sentiment has been repeated (off the cuff) about the newest rendition of the GT as well. I take great pleasure in politely correcting this rumor. It was my understanding that the only British contribution was the Recardo transmission. Ironically the British transmission was a major failing point on the 60's GT.

Sumbuddy correct me if I'm wrong, but, I seem to remember a thread here on The 'Forum wherein it was mentioned Lotus had a hand in the SUSPENSION design somewhere, somehow?

 

[Fubar]

The level of European connection determined on which version of the car your talking about I would think. The GT-40 MK I was a British car however the MK IV was built in America from the ground up using the latest aerodynamic technologies.

That is in line with all that I have seen and read but it cannot adequately be explained to Ferrari fanatic or Porschophile (I have found that these groups have a trangable disrespect for anything American). However, I felt like the 2005-2006 GT was more discernibly American... if Lotus designed the chassis and Recardo designed the transmission, then the lined is somewhat blurred.

Sumbuddy correct me if I'm wrong, but, I seem to remember a thread here on The 'Forum wherein it was mentioned Lotus had a hand in the SUSPENSION design somewhere, somehow?

I knew that the original GT team has several engineers from Lotus. I can't recall having heard the same thing about the 2005/6

 

[RALPHIE]

In addition to the English Ricardo transaxle, the major body panels of the GT were made by Superform, also an English company, having already done similar bodywork for Rolls Royce, Morgan and Aston Martin.

However, the panels for the Ford GT were made in their plant in Riverside, California - a plant that makes aerospace panels for jet fighters and booster rockets.

 

[DWR46]

Just a note to clarify the orignal GT-40 transaxles. The earliest cars were equipped with Italian Colotti T-37 units. They were never really designed for the torque or car weight, and were a constant failure point even after Shelby's people tried to improve them. However, they were about the only thing available at that time. The Mark II and MarkIV 427 powered cars were equipped with Ford designed and built units that essentially used Top Loader internals in a specifically designed casing for the GT's. Later on, the GT-40's were equipped with German ZF 5-speed transaxles and these proved to be very reliable when used with the small-block V-8's.

Honestly, the GT-40's with the ZF's shift much nicer than our Ford GT's with the Ricardo, so much for 35 years of development!