Ford GT’s First-Ever Heritage Edition Will Take You All The Way Back To 1966, But Not Le Mans

• The Heritage Edition is based on Ken Miles’ Daytona 24 Hour Endurance Race-Winning GT40 built by Ford and Caroll Shelby.

• The Studio Collection features numerous colour options including customisation for the cooling ducts.

• The current Ford GT supercar produces 660PS of maximum power.

Before the Le Mans victory in 1966 which was the pinnacle of the GT40’s (and Ford’s) success, there was the Daytona 24 Hour endurance race. The GT40 Mk II conquered the Florida speedway, setting the path for the Le Mans victory in the same year: 1966. Since we petrolheads below the age of 60 probably didn’t exist back then, Ford Performance has decided to give us a reminder: the Heritage Edition.

Stylistically based on the same car that the GT’s pedigree belongs to, the Heritage Edition pays homage to Ford’s first dominating victory, led by Ken Miles. Fun fact: When we say dominating, Ford won with a 1-2-3-5 near-perfect victory. Another historical fun fact: Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby led the pack almost throughout the race, outpacing the rest by nearly 30 miles (around 48 km). Many people tend to give all the credit of the GT’s fame to the Le Mans victory (in some way justifiably so) but the win at Daytona was an achievement worthy of this tribute. It’s surprising that it took so long.

It gets a livery, bearing a striking resemblance to the Ken Miles’ race-winning GT40 along with carbon-fibre elements on the hood and the 98 number patch stamped on the side. It stands on one-piece 20-inch gold forged-aluminium wheels. An upgraded version of the package comes with exposed carbon-fibre wheels of the same size and other additions. The inside of the sleek GT supercar gets the Alcantara suede upholstery for the seats and the same treatment for the steering wheel, instrument panel, and the headliner along with red paddle shifters. 

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The Heritage Edition won’t be the only offering. Along with it comes the Studio Package which is a multi-customisable graphics pack that Ford has been teasing for quite some time. It even gets the option to colour-customise the cooling ducts! The design options were made by a collaboration between Ford’s Performance and GT manufacturing unit. 

We all know the legend of the iconic GT40 Mk II, envisioned in the movie Ford v. Ferrari (2019), and Ford has further cemented that legacy built with Caroll Shelby that is as impressive today as it was 54 years ago. The limited 40 models to get the Studio Collection will be spread across the 2021 and 2022 model years, with the latter being the year the GT’s production concludes.