The mission was clear, and the stakes were high. It was all or nothing. Go big or go home. Beat Ferrari at all costs. That would eventually come true, but as was dramatized in the Ford v. Ferrari film, the climb to that 1-2-3 domination at Le Mans took a big leap forward at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour Continental race. There, the GT40 Mk II won by eight laps with Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby behind the wheel, and took four of the top five spots.
…The Ford Performance team went deeper into the Ford GT’s race history and crafted a limited-edition model that stylistically honors the 55th anniversary of the Daytona 24 Hour endurance race… — Mike Severson, Ford
“Miles and Ruby led nearly every lap of the 24-hour race and outpaced the competition by 30 miles,” Ford GT program manager Mike Severson enthused. “The win was the first time anyone had threatened Ferrari’s dominance in sports car racing and represented a turning point in the Ford GT race program.”
In conjunction with the Petersen Automotive Museum’s online Car Week events, Ford Performance revealed a new package available on the 2021 Ford GT. The Heritage Edition draws inspiration from the 1966 GT40 Mk II that won the Daytona 24 Hour Continental. (Photo Credit: Ford Motor Company)
Such a feat definitely deserves celebration, which Ford Performance set out to do with a new package for the 660-horsepower 2021 Ford GT. With multitudes of car events shunted by pandemic concerns, debuting new vehicles in the digital space is the way to spread the word. As such, the Blue Oval speed merchants partnered with the Petersen Automotive Museum and its Car Week online motoring experience as the venue to debut these exclusive offerings.
While the 20-inch Heritage Gold wheels (left) are standard with this configuration, the Heritage Upgrade Package replaces them with 20-inch wheels in exposed carbon fiber with a gloss-red barrel accent. Behind them are black-lacquer calipers with red Brembo lettering. Inside, this package includes exposed carbon fiber door panels with ghosted 98 roundels.
“For this Heritage Edition, the Ford Performance team went deeper into the Ford GT’s race history and crafted a limited-edition model that stylistically honors the 55th anniversary of the Daytona 24 Hour endurance race that would eventually lead to our successes at Le Mans,” Severson said. “Plus, for customers who want to highlight the carbon-fiber body and functional cooling ducts that help deliver Le Mans-winning performance, the Ford GT Studio Collection offers another new way GT fans can personalize their supercars.”
The 2021 Ford GT Heritage Edition wears Frozen White paint with a livery highlighted by exposed carbon fiber and Race Red accents.
Drawing inspiration from the game-changing GT40 Mk II that dominated Daytona more than a half century ago, the Heritage Edition combines a Frozen White paint scheme with an exposed carbon fiber hood and roundel graphic. Its livery highlights the front fascia, roof edge, driver door, and wing with Race Red. Accenting that look are special Ford graphics on the rear quarters and Heritage Gold 20-inch wheels framing red Brembo monoblock calipers at all four corners.
Slathering the cockpit of the Heritage Edition Ford GT is a generous dose of Alcantara suede. Black covers the instrument panel, headliner, and steering wheel, while red blankets the seats. Anodized red paddle shifters tie the seats in with the controls.
Along with the Heritage Edition, Ford Performance also showed off a new, ultra-limited package featuring unique graphics and a wide-ranging choice of colors. Dubbed the Ford GT Studio Collection, this package is only available on 40 Ford GTs across the final two model years of the supercar’s production run from 2021 through 2022.
If a Ford GT Heritage Edition isn’t quite exclusive enough, the company is also offering a scant 40 supercars across the 2021 and 2022 model years adorned with the Studio Collection package, which offers customizable paint and unique graphics drawn from a broadened color palette. “The combination of the stripes and accents invokes the emotion of speed and draws your eye to some of the most prominent features of the GT,” Garen Nicoghosian, Multimatic design head, explained. “The fuselage, buttresses and signature features on the headlights provide visual anchors for the graphics, guiding your eye across the vehicle.”
