Forget the new Ford GT, this is what you really want.



With more than 10,800 people showing interest in the new GT – an astonishing figure for a supercar – Ford’s newly launched mid-engine model can be described a commercial success. More so as Ford announced that it received 6,506 fully completed applications from all over the world. However, Ford will keep things exclusive and manufacture jut 250 GT models a year, with total production figures expected to barely top 1000 units.

So, getting your hands on one is kind of hard, but lucky there are alternatives, like this Matech GT1 racer.

This is not one of the 4038 regular, previous-gen Ford GTs made, but a more exclusive variant that has some proper racing pedigree running through its system. One of only four units ever built, the vehicle was meticulously restored and prepared by Marc VDS Racing themselves – the second racing team that developed and competed with it – before being brought to the USA in May of 2014.

Matech and Marc VDS Racing teamed up to create the GT 1 project after Ford granted them permission, securing support from the car maker during the whole development process.

The only components carried from the street version are the chassis and the rear lights, with everything else being created from scratch. Basically, the GT 1 was purposefully designed and build for racing at the highest level of GT Motorsport.

For instance, the disks and brakes were designed to last for 24 hours, in racing regime, without needing to be changed. The engine is inclined forwards by 2.5 degrees in order to locate the gearbox higher and have the drive shaft at the best angles to the wheels. Not only that but the engine bay heat shield is lined with adhesive gold foil, the car’s Iconel exhaust is described as being as expensive as a regular street car, and the whole rig generates just under 800Kg (or 1764lbs) of down-force at 240km/h (or 150mph).

Thanks to Roush-Yates 5.3 V8 race engine mapped for 102-octane unleaded fuel, the GT 1 produces 650 hp at 7400 rpm and 531 ft/lbs (719 Nm) of torque at 5800 rpm. Sure, at $915,000 (available on eBay) it costs a bit more than the new GT, but it’s rarer and more hardcore.

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