The Ford GT40

The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 (1966 being the Mk II, 1967 the Mk IV, and 1968-1969 the oldest chassis design, the Mk I). It is so far the only American car to win overall at this race (Although the Mk I and the Mk II were actually designed and built by Lola Cars in the United Kingdom).

It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965). Chassis  P-1075, which won in 1968 and 1969, is the first car in Le Mans history to win the race more than once with the same chassis, and only one of two cars to have won with the same chassis.) using a Ford engine originally 4.7- liter, enlarged to 4.9-liter (also known as a 5.0) with special alloy Gurney-Weslake cylinder head.

The car was named the GT (for Grand Touring) with the 40 representing its overall height of 40 inches (1.02 m, measured at the windshield) as required by the rules. Large displacement Ford V8 engines (4.2 liter, 4.7 liter and 7 liter) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which displaced 3.0 liter or 4.0 liter.

Early cars were simply named "Ford GT". The name "GT40" was the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit, and the quest to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 through GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars, the MkI, MkII, and MkIIIs,( with the exception of the MkIV, which were numbered J1-J10)were numbered GT40P/1000 through GT40P/1145, were officially "GT40s". The name of Ford's project, and the serial numbers dispel the story that "GT40" was "only a nickname."

The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.

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The Ford GT90

The Ford GT90 was a concept car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was unveiled in January 1995 at the Detroit Auto Show as "the world's mightiest supercar". Claimed performance included a top speed 235 mph (378 km/h) from a 720 hp (537 kW;730 PS) quad-turbocharged V12 engine DOHC, the exhaust of which was claimed to be hot enough to damage the body panels, requiring ceramic tiles similar to those on the space shuttle to prevent this.

The mid-engined car was a spiritual successor to the Ford GT40, taking from it some styling cues, such as doors that cut into the roofline, but little else. All angles and glass, the Ford GT90 was the first Ford to display the company's "New Edge" design philosophy. The GT90 was built around a honeycomb-section aluminum monocoque and its body panels were moulded from carbon fiber.

The GT90 was built by a small team in just over six months and, as a result, borrowed many components from another high profile stablemate the Jaguar XJ220. The all-round double wishbone suspension and the five-speed manual gearbox came from the Jaguar, while the engine was a siamesed 4.6L DOHC V8 block (from the Lincoln Mark VIII) with 2 cylinders cut off.

The GT90's 48-valve V12 was a six-litre engine which, if Ford had ever produced it in volume, might have produced up to 720 hp (537 kW), thanks to four Garrett AiResearch T2 turbochargers. The engine was based on the Ford Modular engine. Two Lincoln V8 engines each had portions removed, namely the last pair of cylinders from the rear of one engine and the first pair of cylinders from the front of the other engine and the cut down engines were welded together. In total, this yielded a 90-degree V12, with 90.2 mm bore and 77.3 mm stroke.

Jacques Nasser, then a Ford executive and eventually CEO, was very proud of the car, and kept a model of it on his desk, as seen in a documentary on the U.K. television network Channel 4 on the Firestone tire incidents.

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