As with many other industries in the country, American cars have always been about allowing as many people as possible to enjoy the good stuff. So it’s no surprise that U.S. supercars are somewhat of a rare breed, certainly much more so than over in Europe. And if we were to pick the best-known machine of the sort, it would have to be the Ford GT. However, with production of the second-generation model coming to halt this year, many wonder what’s in store for the Blue Oval’s halo car. And all signs point to an all-electric successor for the Ford GT.
Ford has always been extremely careful around its top dog. So while the original GT of the early 2000s was chosen to celebrate the centenary of the automaker as a somewhat affordable supercar, things changed with the current car.
Having entered service in 2016, the Gen II GT comes with much more limited production (think: 1,350 vs 4,000 units). In addition, customers have had to deal with a serious vetting process before getting an allocation. This not only drove the price up, turning the supercar into a profitable machine but, also thanks to some famous owners, it meant that “used” GTs are now trading hands for seven-figure sums.
The most likely paths for the Ford GT successor
So, what’s next? For one, we may not get a successor straight away. After all, the two models we enjoyed to date came a decade apart. However, we do expect the carmaker to bring back the GT. After all, Ford has proven eager to fully reap the benefits of its legacy automaker status, with examples of nameplate “reinvention” including the Mustang Mach-E, the Maverick, and the European Puma, which went from coupes to crossovers and a truck, in the case of the Maverick.
As with the outgoing model, the next GT should be a global car. And with the carmaker having vowed to go all-electric in Europe by 2030, it seems we should expect a battery-powered Gen III Ford GT, which is what we expressed in the title despite a design detail we’ll discuss below.
By that time, solid-state batteries, with their lower weight, should allow electric supercars/hypercars to overcome the scale footprint issues the current generation of such machines is facing.
Of course, there’s always the scenario of an immediate replacement for the GT, which could also involve a hybrid. That’s because the said Old Continent pledge will also see the company offering all passenger car models with at least one electric or plug-in hybrid iteration starting in 2026.
This path could see Ford returning to Le Mans, the legendary endurance race that saw the GT40 ancestor of the modern Ford supercar showing Ferrari what’s what between 1966 and 1969—have you seen the carbon-crazy Ruffian GT40 build?
In fact, the current GT also one-upped the Prancing Horse for the 2017 Le Mans race, but this time around they battled for class rather than overall victory. Nevertheless, with endurance racing currently being in the midst of a reinvention—there are new top classes for 2022 and 2023—this is indeed a time when many big names are returning to the top tiers, Prancing Horse included.
As such, we can’t entirely rule out a new Ford GT that would play the game this way, especially since the concept for the current car came as a total surprise back at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show.
However, until we get any sort of info on a GT revival, we’ve brought along a rendering coming from a former BMW designer.
This Gen III Ford GT CGI is an ode to the GT40
If Ford decides to replace the second-generation GT with an all-electric offering—once again, the more likely scenario—the lesser constraints of such a powertrain would mean designers have more freedom. Even so, the current midship proportions could be maintained for continuity.
And while we’re on that topic, the 3D work we’re featuring today can be described as a futuristic interpretation of the 1960s GT40 (here’s a rendering portraying a slightly modernized version with serious downforce additions). As with the outgoing model, aero is king, which naturally has a deep influence on the vehicle’s appearance. Even so, with the two being rendered side by side, you can clearly enjoy the visual connection.
The posterior of the unofficial third-generation Ford GT seems to pack a pair of high-mounted exhaust tips. Featuring a more angular shape, these are quite a departure from the meme material delivered by the rounded tailpipes of the outgoing model. However, we mustn’t get caught up in this and we can say the same about the pair of massive air intakes that appear to serve an internal combustion engine—who’s to say they’re not there for other cooling purposes?
The mind behind these pixels
The eye candy on our screens comes from Marco Wietrzychowski (aka speed_sculptures_design), a penning master who was a BMW designer between 2016 and 2020. The enthusiast currently serves as the creative director of German styling specialist Muniq Design.
Nevertheless, for the time being, everybody in the Blue Oval realm is focused on tomorrow’s release (September 14), namely the 2024 seventh-generation Mustang, which, by the way, will also get a GT3 endurance racing form.
