The 2023 GT MkIV is made for the track, and to make lesser GT owners jealous.
Ford has rolled out a few allegedly “final” GT supercar editions of late, each one begging the question: “Is this really the last one?” Well, the finally final, totally end-of-the-run-we-swear-but-aren’t-really-sure GT is here, and it looks so wild that we momentarily forgot about the whole multiple-final-models thing. Instead, we’re now wondering why every GT since 2016 has looked virtually the same, when Ford apparently could have made at least some of them look like this incredible Mk IV special-edition version.
Let’s start with the general look of this GT, which bristles with extra wings, spoilers, and such. It’s billed as a track-only special, so, sure, these pieces make sense for the mission. But the body-color headlight covers that only allow thin LED strips to poke through? Those look awesome—truly exotic—and way more interesting than the regular GT’s clear lenses and boring street-legal headlamp units.
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And we haven’t even gotten to the pure 1980s-retro disc wheel covers, enlarged intakes scoops on the nose and bodysides, which restyle the GT’s overall shape enough to make it feel like a fresh design. Borrowing some McLaren jargon, Ford even dubs the elongated rear bodywork (aft of the rear wheels) as a “long tail” design. It’s not only the body pieces that add length—this GT has a longer wheelbase than regular GTs.
Details are thin at this point, but we know the GT Mk IV—named in honor of the winning Mk IV that won the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans—promises a unique powertrain capable of 800-some horsepower. The transmission is claimed to be a “race” type, which we take to mean a sequential unit more similar to that in Ford’s actual GT endurance racers than the dual-clutch unit in the street models. Oh, and the suspension inherits Multimatic’s Adaptive Spool Valve shocks.
Surprisingly, Ford will build 67 of these $1.7 million, probably-final, last-ever current-generation GTs (the number is another nod to that ’67 Le Mans win), but who knows? Maybe Ford will slap some of this Mk IV’s styling on more streetable GTs and extend the supercar’s run yet again? If the GT’s production run has taught us anything, it’s to never say never—even if we really want to say “why did it take so long for Ford to make the GT look fresh?”
Video: 2023 Ford GT Mk IV
Source: motortrend.com
