Peter Palmer: 2020 Ford GT: More Power & Sweet Special Editions!

2020 Ford GT hits the track with two new special editions.
Engine modifications further boost horsepower for 2020.
A special exhaust is now standard for the 2020 Ford GT.

“That,” he said, “that… is really bad for the eyes.”

It was a ship of classic, simple design, like a flattened salmon, twenty yards long, very clean, very sleek. There was just one remarkable thing about it.

“It’s so… black!” said Ford Prefect. “You can hardly make out its shape… light just seems to fall into it!”

The blackness of it was so extreme that it was almost impossible to tell how close you were standing to it.

“Your eyes just slide off it…” said Ford in wonder.

*From Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams. (About the stuntship whose sole purpose was to fly into the sun to provide spectacular effects for a rock concert).

And that pretty much describes the first thing I thought when I laid eyes on the 2020 Ford GT finished in Liquid Carbon. Newly available for 2020, Liquid Carbon is black. Devoid of color. Literally. To show off Ford’s obsession with keeping things as light as possible, all the carbon fiber body panels are completely free of paint. Ford uses a special clearcoat to “punctuate” the GT’s carbon fiber weave in this limited-edition appearance option.

2020 Ford GT: Black Is The New Black

For 2020, Ford’s GT supercar gets more power, upgraded cooling, standard Akrapovic titanium exhaust, and two new unique appearance options: a restyled Gulf Racing Heritage livery and a fully-exposed carbon fiber body in the aforementioned Liquid Carbon version.

The Liquid Carbon edition is very, very black.

Carbon fiber wheels come as standard equipment. You can choose between titanium lugnuts, six-point racing harness anchors, five interior color options, and five brake calipers. If that’s not enough, there are two available stripe options that even Ford says are “over the top.”

2020 Ford GT Liquid Carbon. Photo: Ford Motor Company.

Earning Those Stripes

You can go with either the dual center stripe (usually standard on Ford GTs) or the single stripe found on the Carbon Series as well as the mirror caps. These stripes and mirror caps come in any of seven standard paint colors and, for the first time, these can be ordered independently of one another.

Related: No filler, no fluff: the real story of Ford’s battle with Ferrari.

Gulf Racing Heritage Edition

Also for 2020, the Gulf Racing Heritage Livery has been updated. Now there’s a black pinstripe dividing the blue from the orange that recalls the 1968-69 Le Mans-winning GT40 driven by Jacky Ickx. The car number, rendered in carbon fiber, is now #6 with the 2019 number, #9 going bye-bye. Also carbon fiber wheels in place of aluminum alloy are available for the first time on a heritage model GT.

2020 Ford GT: The Nitty-Gritty

The GT’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost twin-turbo V6 now puts out 660 horsepower, an increase of 13 versus last year. Ford found more juice for 2020 through revised engine calibrations and mechanical upgrades, including gallery-cooled pistons and higher-energy ignition coils.

FoMoCo also tweaked engine cooling with new buttress air ducts for an increase in airflow by 50 percent. Larger intercoolers now keep charge air temperatures cooler, while suspension damping is increased in track mode to optimize handling. Also new and standard for 2020 is an Akrapovic titanium exhaust. It provides nine lbs. in weight savings over the previous system, adding a deeply resonant, unmistakable sound from the more powerful EcoBoost engine.

Deliveries of the 2020 Ford GT are ongoing, but get in line now, since they will be wrapping up in 2022.

Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.