Ford GT Gets Even Lighter, Faster

Editor’s note: We’d like to welcome Scott Huntington to The Garage Blog! This is his first story, so we’ll ignore the fact that he did not mention that the Ford GT is built from the ground up, here in Canada, not in America as most people think!

We know it’s been getting to you. The lack of sleep, constant nail-biting and pacing can end now because there’s an answer to the question, “Will my Ford GT be fast enough?”

Really, how fast does it need to be? The answer, of course, is “faster than everything my friends drive,” and therein lies the problem. If you’re someone special enough to make it on Ford’s double-secret Ford GT future owners list that’s written in a basement somewhere and can only be viewed under blacklight, chances are your friends can hang.

Ford Adds Lightness

So now, for those who’ve got to outshine the guy who just picked up a new McLaren or Porsche RS, there’s the Ford GT Competition Series. We know because it showed up the other day on Ford’s car configurator.

Ford even claim the car is the nearest thing you can buy to the 2016 Le Mans-winning GT race car that channeled the Dearborn company’s racing heritage direct from the late 1960s. It uses the Colin Chapman approach: Anything not critical to driving must go.

Cutting Carbs and Adding Carbon

That means your stereo, cup holders and air conditioning don’t stand a chance, but the crash diet doesn’t stop there. The bulkhead behind the driver has in fact been narrowed, and all glass in the car has been replaced by lightweight alternatives — Gorilla Glass in the front and Perspex for the engine cover, which no longer opens automatically because lightness.

One of the greatest things about lightweight cars is they typically rock an absurd amount of everyone’s favorite lightweight woven Wonderbread, carbon fiber. For the GT, which already uses a carbon body, that means even the wheels are made of the stuff, and they get special titanium lug nuts. Even the exhaust is made of carbon.

Slim and Stylish

We’re guessing road noise from inside this new GT flavor is increased, but you will certainly look cool in it. The car’s trademark stripe is done in exposed carbon, and the tasteful lightweight goodies don’t end outside.

The dash and doors are made of exposed carbon, and the Comp. Series cars get unique instrument bezels. Shift paddles are done in anodized red, which is the color of choice for all the interior bits that aren’t carbon or black.

Ford will build only 250 Competition Series cars per year, as if the GT wasn’t already exclusive enough. Keep a close eye on that configurator — when they’re gone, they’re gone.

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