Getting the inside story from the folks who build our dream cars is always a treat. Recently Dave Pericak, who has a storied history helping to create some of the Blue Oval’s most coveted performance machines, stopped by Jay Leno’s garage. They discussed the grit, the gambles, and the glory behind some truly iconic Fords, covering everything from Ford GTs to the Shelby GT350’s flat-plane-crank V8s, and Ford’s monumental Le Mans promise.

Pericak, whose Ford career spans from Chief Mustang Engineer to Head of Ford Performance and now leads Ford’s electric truck program, kicked off the discussion with Jay’s own 2005 Ford GT (car No. 12). Leno praised Ford because the supercar “still says Ford” on it, unlike brands that create different luxury names.

Pericak explained that changing “crash standards” partly led to the end of 2005 Ford GT production. Leno also recalled how much better it drove than an original GT40 that inspired the GT, which he said was like, “a case you don’t want to meet your heroes … It’s so hot … It’s so noisy.”

The pair switched gears to Shelby GT350R. Jay called the Mustang with a screaming, 5.2-liter, flat-plane-crank V8 “a wonderful car to drive.” But Dave Pericak, who led that project for Ford, shared a big engineering headache they faced. “While it’s amazing, boy, does it vibrate,” Pericak said of the unique engine design. “It shakes this car like there’s no tomorrow.” The pair then focused on the more recent 2017 Ford GT — a car Jay described as “a race car you can drive on the road,” while Pericak recounted the incredible pressure Ford faced with that project as they aimed to win Le Mans on the 50th anniversary of their historic 1966 victory.

“When we decided we were going to do this, we were going to build a race car first,” Pericak said. “It was all to go back to Le Mans and to win.” That was a promise made to Ford leadership years before the car even existed, and one that Pericak’s team incredibly fulfilled in 2016.

He also shared a moving story about standing with Edsel Ford II at Le Mans, 50 years after Edsel had been there as a boy with his father for the original Ford GT40 triumph.

Pericak, who was recently inducted into the Mustang Owner’s Museum Hall of Fame, left an indelible mark on the history Ford’s iconic brands. He helped reinvent the Mustang for its 50th anniversary and took Ford back to victory lane at Le Mans with the new GT, and is now steering the company’s electric truck division.