The Ford GT MkIV Is an 800-HP Track-Only Monster
Nearly seven years after it blew minds with its surprise debut at the Detroit Auto Show, the modern Ford GT's run is coming to an end. It's not going quietly. The GT MkIV is an 800-hp, high-downforce track special that takes the GT platform to new extremes. Sixty-seven will be built, in honor of the original Ford MkIV, which won the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, each with a $1.7 million price tag.
As with all previous versions of the current GT, the MkIV was developed in collaboration with engineering firm Multimatic, which will build the cars at its Markham, Ontario facility. A larger version of the GT's twin-turbo V-6 is responsible for pushing the power output far beyond the 700 hp of the GT MkII track car and the 647 hp of the GT road car (to say nothing of the Balance of Performance-limited 500-or-so hp of the GT race car), and it's paired with a racing sequential gearbox.
The wheelbase of the MkIV is slightly larger than that of any other GT and the car sports new, all-carbon bodywork complete with a striking "long-tail" rear end that extends well past the rear lights. Ford's original MkIV was radically different than the GT40 Mk1 and Mk2, and so it should be that the new MkIV is the same.
Unfortunately, Ford's press release is light on technical specifics, but the combination of more power, more downforce, slick tires and sequential gearbox should mean the MkIV is the quickest iteration of this GT yet, almost assuredly faster than the actual race car.
Like the GT road car, Ford and Multimatic are taking applications for prospective buyers, but the system is different than before. Still, you'll have to be someone very important to get on the list. Ford will confirm the customer list by the end of the first quarter of 2023, and deliveries will begin around the same time.
Multimatic is wrapping up the last examples of the GT road car before switching focus to the MkIV. After those 67 cars are built, the book is closed on this remarkable car.
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