Limited edition Ford GT highlights carbon fiber aesthetics

As Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, Mich., U.S.) is nearing completion of the production of the Ford GT, it is producing 20 special editions (Ford GT LM Editions) that call attention to the carbon fiber that is used for the vehicle’s body. 

For example, there is the option to have exposed red- or blue-tinted carbon fiber for the front splitter, side and door sills, engine bay louvers, mirror stalks and rear diffuser. Another option is 20-inch carbon fiber wheels with a gloss finish over the exposed weave. On the inside, the carbon fiber seats are wrapped with Alcantara, a soft, suede-like microfiber material.

Ultimately, Ford wants people to realize that the GT is a bona-fide supercar, and the use of carbon fiber underscores that point. Plus it gives its owners some bragging rights when they pull up to the country club: not something more plebian like sheet molding compound (SMC), full-on carbon fiber.

While the LM is a street-legal version of the third-generation Ford GT, the company has announced the 2023 Ford GT Mk IV, a track-only model that will go into production at Multimatic (Markham, Canada). There will be 67 built.

“Multimatic’s brief was to create the most extreme final version of the Ford GT, and the Mk IV is the outcome,” Larry Holt, executive vice president, Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations Group, says.

The vehicle features a twin-turbo EcoBoost engine that will produce >800 horsepower, a racing gearbox, a longer wheelbase and a new, unique carbon fiber long-tail body that echoes the 1967 GT Mk IV design.

The cars will be hand-built at the Multimatic facility in Markham, Ontario. Deliveries will begin in late spring 2023. The base price is $1.7 million.

As Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports, says, “With an even higher level of motorsport engineering and performance, plus a completely new carbon fiber body that is functional and striking, the Mk IV is the ultimate sendoff of the third-generation supercar.”