Video: $1.7million Ford GT MkIV makes world debut on track

17th November 2023

Simon Ostler

Can it really be over 20 years since the first modern Ford GT was unveiled to the world? We’re now into the fourth generation of a car that was conceptualised to evoke memories of the legendary Le Mans-winning GT40 from the 1960s. The Ford GT MkIV made its world debut during the 2023 Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway in California, and it’s by far the most extreme version of the GT we’ve seen.

The passing resemblance to the original GT40 is almost gone now, but the GT MkIV is a cutting edge take on what the GT40 could’ve been if it was made today. Just 67 will be hand built, a nod to the original GT40 MkIV that won at Le Mans in 1967, and each will be sold for $1.7million.

It’s a gloves-off racing car, built according to whatever rule book Ford wanted to write for itself. Powered by the 3.5-litre twin-turbo Ecoboost V6 engine we saw in the previous GT, only this time it has been ‘specially engineered’ with a target to deliver more than 800PS (588kW). There’s a hardcore racing gearbox, Multimatic adaptive suspension and carbon-fibre bodywork that flows into a Long Tail profile with an enormous wing hanging off the back. Overall, the car can generate more than 1,000kg of downforce at its peak.

If you hadn’t guessed, the Ford GT MkIV is a track-only car, and it looks to be an absolute weapon according to its debut running at Sonoma.