You knew I wouldn’t overlook the Ford GT. Rather, you knew I wouldn’t not give this thing its own spotlight. As the new halo from Ford and the return of such a revered car, how could I not? I also figured it would be a good way to wrap up the 2017 Auto Show spotlight posts, hence why I saved it for the last one.
Like a handful of other vehicles at the show this is one I’d been waiting to see in person for quite a while, so upon entering the venue I headed straight for the Ford stand to find it and start grabbing photos. Of course it too was roped off so there was no getting close to it for photographs. I didn’t have my telephoto on me either, having opted to bring more ‘usable’ lenses instead, so I couldn’t zoom in on the details too much but I still shot what I could. Additionally the doors were closed so there wasn’t much of an opportunity to see the interior, though I could note some hints of red – I’ll touch again on that in a moment.
Brian and I agreed/nitpicked together that perhaps it ‘should’ have been shown in a more vibrant paint colour, something more befitting of such a crazy vehicle especially since it was parked between a Nitrous Blue RS and Triple Yellow ST, but perhaps the argument would be it doesn’t need a flashy colour to command your attention. However, the more important aspect of the exterior was that exposed carbon fiber stripe which indicates a Competition Series GT.
Compared to a run-of-the-mill GT (I know that sounds ridiculous but you know what I mean) the Competition Series features weight-savings – the AC goes in the bin for example – and unique styling features such as the aforementioned exposed carbon fiber stripe. Inside, and just visible to those of us at the show as mentioned above, were some small red accents in the form of the shift paddles and the emergency door releases among others, set against an otherwise fully-black cabin.
To mention that stripe again, it was a nice and somewhat subtle change – from afar it looked like merely a black stripe, the weave not being noticeable until we were closer – though the gloss finish of it and the A-pillars did seem a bit odd to have against the other exposed carbon fiber which was all finished in satin. I did some checking and it would appear (according to Ford’s website) that the production Competition Series cars would indeed have matching gloss carbon fiber lower trim, mirrors, and wheels as opposed to the satin seen here, so that makes it an even safer bet that this was a prototype or pre-production model.
In any case the new GT looks like a UFO and it’s even crazier in person. The designs that supercars are sporting these days as a result of aerodynamics shaping them are truly mental and such cars are rather quickly becoming almost concept car-like in their appearance. As insane as it looked just sitting on the show floor though, I imagine nothing will compare to actually seeing a new GT on the road and in motion. Here’s hoping we here in Calgary won’t have to wait too long for that to happen.
-Bill