Ford GT Gallery

A little over 40 years ago, Ford very nearly bought Ferrari before the mercurial Enzo slammed the gates in Ford's face. On hearing the news, Henry Ford II was heard to utter, "then we'll kick his ass" and promptly commissioned a racing car to do exactly that. It was called the GT40 and as it lined up at the start of the 1966 Le Mans 24-hours, Ferrari was looking for his eighth win in nine attempts. It never came; the Fords raced into the lead and went on to win this and every other Le Mans for the rest of the decade. To date, Ferrari has yet to win another.

And now Ferrari's backside is back within range of Ford's boot thanks to this, the new Ford GT (the rights to the GT40 name now reside elsewhere). Its job now is to do on the road what its ancestor did on the track and, in the process sprinkle a little much-needed stardust on Ford's image in the US.

Moreover, just because it wears a Ford badge, don't presume it lacks the ability beneath the skin to cash the cheque written by its extraordinary looks. How fast is it? I could tell you about its Porsche Carrera GT-matching 0-60mph time of 3.8 seconds or likely 200mph top speed but you don't really need to know that. Just look at it: that's how fast it is.

You may have thought that a hundred grand bargain wearing a Ford badge would be a contradiction in terms. And so did I: until I drove it.