Final GT celebrates Ford's secret weapon

“To see the red and gold colours of our team’s livery come back to life, and to debut this new GT alongside one of our original GT40s in Chicago, will be a magical occasion,” Alan Mann Racing director Henry Mann tells us. 

If it’s Ford’s final limited-edition version of the GT – and this year is the contemporary supercar’s last in production – it will make a fitting sign-off. There have been six limited-edition themed GTs celebrating the GT40’s heritage already, marking everything from the first prototype to domination at Daytona and, of course, back-to-back wins at Le Mans. The Ford GT Alan Mann Heritage Edition nicely rounds out the much-storied car’s history.

So what is this new Ford supercar paying tribute to exactly? Byfleet-based Ford race team Alan Mann developed two GT40 experimental prototypes in 1965 as part of the process to turn the car into a Ferrari beater. The team’s take on the GT40 was to get the weight out. The resultant GT40 Lightweight had an aluminium body (the US cars were fibreglass-clad), a 289 (4.7-litre) V8 and 100 updates over the original GT40.

In testing for the 24 Hours at Le Mans in 1966 the Alan Mann cars ran third and fourth fastest – behind the heavier 7.0-litre GT40 MkII that Ford US had developed and which it ultimately raced in that year’s event, scoring the famous 1-2-3 victory. The Mann GT40 Lightweights never raced at Le Mans but, as Ford says, they were instrumental in improving the capabilities of the cars that did race there. 

“Whether it’s going like hell at the racetrack or out-innovating the competition, the Ford GT Alan Mann Heritage Edition honours the vehicles that helped lead Ford to its wins,” said Ford GT programme manager Mike Severson. 

In Chicago, as here in our pictures, the old and the new are being shown alongside each other, which makes for an evocative sight. With its carbon-fibre body and (relatively modestly sized) 3.5-litre V6 it could be argued the new supercar has more in common with the Mann Lightweight than the eventual Le Mans winners. 

The new car’s red livery with twin gold stripes is the most obvious link between the two, that and the 16 race number. Ford has also given it exposed carbon and Frozen White accents along with brake callipers lacquered in black with red graphics. There is more carbon and more Alan Mann red and gold in the cabin including gold appliqués on the instrument panel.

There’s likely to be only a handful of the Alan Mann Heritage Edition GTs, available to “approved” GT customers. No price is given but expect it to be rather less than the $7-9 million Gooding & Co sought when it had the Mann GT40 Lightweight number one (the number 16 car shown) up for auction last summer. 

Henry Mann said: “It’s a great honour for Alan Mann Racing and the Mann family to celebrate the epic motorsports heritage of Ford GT with this fantastic limited-edition car.”