Ford GT Engine Could Be Made Available, Minus the GT

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

If you missed your chance getting into a limited edition Ford GT supercar last week, your EcoBoost-powered dreams might not be over.

Dave Pericak, director of Global Ford Performance, recently told Autocar that the 600-plus horsepower heart of the GT could beat on — in other low-volume specialty models.

Pericak was talking about the racing circuit prowess of the twin turbocharged and intercooled 3.5-liter V6, and hinted that it would make a good mill for a small firm to use in a sports or supercar, not just the GT.

Ford’s win at the 2014 12 Hours of Sebring “shows how capable the engine is,” Pericak told Autocar, adding that he’s considered making it available to other racing teams.

If the automaker decides to offer up its beastliest engine, it would directly challenge rival General Motors, which sells its LS small-block V8s without a body.

Ford’s one-month order window for the 2017 and 2018 model year GTs saw 6,506 applications roll in, meaning plenty of disappointment for wannabe owners. Ontario firm Multimatic plans to make just 250 units of the roughly $450,000 vehicle each year, meaning over 6,000 GT fans will spend the next two years aimlessly tinkering in their garage, waiting for their next chance.

Now, Pericak’s comments opens the door to the possibility of GT performance being offered in a much cheaper vehicle. For now, that should keep the fires stoked inside crestfallen Ford aficionados.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 33 comments
  • CarnotCycle CarnotCycle on May 19, 2016

    Maybe hack/stuff it in oldie-but-goldy Honda NSX.

  • PriusV16 PriusV16 on May 19, 2016

    Just what I'd want to hear after shellng out 400k for a Ford supercar......

  • Laserwizard Laserwizard on May 19, 2016

    Ford might be giving Cadihack an out - since everything but the engine on their products is third rate and not luxurious, potentially they should just sell engines. At least those are competent even if the rest of the car is overpriced garbage. Directed at all the clowns at GMI.

  • Stanczyk Stanczyk on May 23, 2016

    How about not "engine minus GT", but "Ford GT minus tripple-double-turbo-Ecoboost" option ? They can play with that "PR-marketing crap" for racing purpose only and put sth with more traditional V8 motor on the road .. They would need big, powerful 650+bhp V8 for new GT500 anyway , so what's the problem to pump-it-up to(or above) Hellcat-level and create proper successor for previous generation "cool" Ford GT .. ... This "talent show applications" also seems rather ridiculous .. .. than you know that not experts and engineers, but "PR-marketing muppets" are running the show .. >)

Next