At the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford made a huge splash with the unveiling of the 2016 GT supercar.
The last installment of the GT, released in 2005, was a radical remake of the GT40, an iconic racecar from the 1960's that was named as such because its height was only 40 inches. Ten years from the 2005 GT, Ford is releasing another spiritual successor to the GT line that incorporates a host of modern technology for the ultimate driving experience.
The biggest change for the 2016 GT is at its engine, which will be a twin-turbo, 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost engine that packs over 600 horsepower, which is an improvement over the supercharged V8 engine with 550 horsepower in the previous GT.
The engine is located in the middle of the vehicle, behind the seats, in the interest of achieving the perfect weight balance for the car. The new engine for the 2016 GT, however, does not provide drivers with the electric assist hybrid systems that can be seen in other supercars such as the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918.
The materials used for the construction of the vehicle are a combination of carbon fiber and aluminum. Aluminum makes up the subframes for the car's front and rear, and carbon fiber makes up most of the rest of the vehicle.
More important than the materials for the vehicle is how they are used, as the styling of the 2016 GT's design reveals more dramatic cuts, including huge gaps in the vehicle's rear fenders that shows how tightly packed the V6 engine is within the car.
For the vehicle's front, there is a lot of raw and unpainted carbon fiber that can be seen, punctuated with modern LED headlights. Of course, the iconic pair of air outlets in the vehicle's hood is still there.
The 2016 GT's rear spoiler is a fully active one, with the ability to change its profile and pitch depending on the speed of the car and the choices made by the driver.
While Ford did not reveal much of 2016 GT's interior, the company said that there will be a steering wheel in the style of those found in Formula One cars, offering buttons right on the wheel for important controls. The instrument panel of the vehicle also goes fully modern with a digital, fully configurable display.
The 2016 Ford GT will begin production next year. The company did not reveal a definite price for the vehicle, but as a powerful supercar, it can be expected that it won't come cheap. The 2005 GT reached prices of $140,000, but the number was often higher due to added premiums. The price for the 2016 Ford GT can be expected to be higher than that.
