Go inside secret lair where Ford developed the GT super car

In the basement of Ford's Product Development Center in Dearborn, in a room formally used to store foam, the Ford GT super car grew from sketches to clay models to prototypes now being tested on the track in preparation for sale in the second half of 2016.

Ford allowed reporters into the secret lair Monday. Down dingy stairs and into long-forgotten hallways that saw little life before the project pulled together a few select executives, designers and engineers to build the automaker's most expensive car.

"We needed a small barricaded space, away from traffic," said Moray Callum, Ford's head of design.

The team was small and handpicked to include a mix of young talent with fresh ideas and seasoned employees with the experience needed to pull off a new GT in a record 14 months.

Only a handful of people had access to the GT design studio initially. The project grew to a core team of about 15 and only about 20 people had access, said Callum.

The small team faced a monumental task: develop the most modern and sophisticated car to bear the Ford nameplate - a car expected to cost as much as $400,000. Pricing has not been announced.

The car had to go from idea to show car in 14 months for a global debut in January at the 2015 North American International Auto Show.

"Very impressive timing, With a small team and upper management support, it shows what you can do," said Dave Sullivan, analyst with AutoPacific. "We have not seen anything like this from Detroit and it was all done in Michigan.

"And they did an excellent job of keeping it secret," Sullivan said. "It is impressive that a company can develop a global car in a room that small in a company that big. The auto industry usually can't keep secrets like that."

"It was the chance of a lifetime for all of us," Callum said of those who worked in the "pleasure dome."

The walls of the basement room are covered in "story boards" with sketches of the evolution of the design, different angles of the car and the lightweight parts under development.

The team created scale models to get the proportions and then full-size foam models were milled -- it was faster than clay models. Aerodynamic work was done digitally: it was faster and avoided having to book wind tunnel time and risk the secret getting out. Two interior models were built so the team would not have to stop work while upgrades were being made to the model of the cockpit.

The final result is no ordinary vehicle. The Ford GT has 10 million lines of computer code -- more than double the software in a F-35 fighter jet. The 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 engine with unique turbos, cams, pistons and rods to generate more than 600 horsepower also has a million lines of code.

The car has sensors everywhere that feed 28 microprocessors with huge amounts of data. Even the door latch has a microprocessor in a world where complexity and software are exploding.

The new GT has a series of "drive mode controls" to control such things as engine power, throttle management, stability control, suspension, torque vectoring and ride height.

And the two-seater has a body made of carbon fiber.

The cabin is tight. To keep the car low and aerodynamic, the seats are integrated into the carbon fiber tub. They don't move beyond a slight recline, so the steering wheel and pedals adjust to the needs of the driver. And the headrest is helmet-friendly.

"The fixed seat was the game changer," said Jamal Hameedi, chief engineer at Ford Performance. Knowing the occupant would always be in the same spot allowed the team to design a safe and aerodynamic car around him.

While the 2005 GT drew inspiration from the original GT40 and Ford's racing history, the new GT was designed to pay its respects to its past without being retro. "We were developing a car for the 21st century," Callum said. "It could only be produced today."

"Today's cars are more aerospace than they've ever been." said Matt Zaluzec, technical leader for advanced materials and manufacturing research. His team works on chemically toughened glass, glass fiber composite springs, aluminum brake rotors and carbon fiber wheels.

The car is one of the showpieces of Ford's emphasis on innovation, a key area of focus for CEO Mark Fields who oversaw the addition of a research center in Palo Alto, Calif., that opened earlier this year.

Fields said Monday that Ford's center should have one of the largest research teams in Palo Alto by the end of the year.

Developing technology and materials for performance vehicles is efficient because it eventually cascades down to other vehicles, said Raj Nair, head of global product development.

As for the secret GT dedicated studio, Callum said it will likely wind down soon since the GT design is largely locked in. But that just makes it available for Ford's next secret project. On that subject, Callum is not talking.

Contact Alisa Priddle: 313-222-5394 or apriddle@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisaPriddle