When I got my Ford GT in August of 2005 I quickly realized something was very different about this car versus all the 1960s muscle cars I’d owned over the previous 30 years. The GT was a brand-new car, and that meant replacement parts were readily available for it. After struggling to get parts for my Plymouth GTXs and Dodge Challengers I reveled in the idea I could get anything I wanted for the Ford GT by simply calling on my local Ford dealer.
Category: 2005-2006 Ford GT Page 2 of 10
Everything related to the 2005 and 2006 Ford GT
As promised, here are some images of the new 2019 Ford GT Heritage Edition in Gulf Livery. This color combination, paying homage to the famous Gulf Livery worn by the 1968 and 1969 Ford GT40s that won Le Mans, will be available for the 2020 model year GT, too. Only a limited number of new Ford GT buyers will be allowed to purchase this Gulf Livery Heritage Edition, and I’m not one of them.
The Ford GT’s excellent design makes it look good from pretty much any angle. But my favorite angle is the overhead look you can only get from an elevated position. That’s not an easy position to get to unless you have a ladder, but I drove my Ford GT to Monterey Car Week this year, and on the drive up we stayed at a hotel with a balcony.
In 2005 the Ford GT was a brand new mid-engine sports car from America. That same year the lifecycle of an aging mid-engine sports car from Japan, the Acura NSX, was coming to an end. The brief crossover of these two cars provided an intriguing glimpse in sports car evolution.
One of the first things I noticed about the GT and NSX is how low the Ford sits, even by first-generation Acura NSX standards. The NSX is not a “big” car by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, its tidy dimensions and lightweight aluminum structure were considered cutting edge technology when it debuted in 1991. But when sitting next to the Ford GT the Acura NSX doesn’t look as low-slung as the GT, and careful analysis confirmed it is indeed slightly taller than Ford’s 2005 supercar.
As a Halloween “treat” I’m willing to post an image I normally wouldn’t share widely. But this shot turned out really well, mostly because the Ford GT diverts attention from me, so here you go.
When I dressed as Captain America for Halloween a couple years ago I had no plan to drive the Ford GT. In fact, I was going to drive the used 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S I owned at the time. Then it occurred to me: “Captain American in a Porsche 911, while a Ford GT sits in the garage?!” I quickly broke out GT and captured this shot before hopping in the American supercar.
This would normally be a Flashback Friday post but Ford recently made a big Ford GT announcement that deserves immediate coverage. Check back next Friday for another trip down memory lane of Karl’s Past Cars. For today, let’s talk about new Ford GT production numbers.
When Ford first announced production of the new Ford GT it was set at 500 units produced over 2 years (logically figuring 250 produced each year). Then the automaker was flooded with 6,500 applications in April of 2016, quickly leading Ford to commit to 4 years of production and a total of 1,000 units. The first 750 units were immediately allocated, leaving 250 available for a final round of application and review.

MARKHAM, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 16, 2016–Raj Nair, Ford executive VP, global product development and chief technical officer, drove the Ford GT supercar off the line to help celebrate the event along with employees and guests. The all-new Ford GT is entering the final phase of development and production has begun. One of the first Ford GTs is being driven off the line at the Multimatic assembly location with the first behind the scenes look at the assembly line for all-new Ford GT. The Ford GT is the culmination of years of Ford innovation in aerodynamics, lightweight carbon fiber construction and ultra-efficient EcoBoost engines. Photo by: Sam VarnHagen
Yesterday Ford decided to increase new Ford GT production to 1,350 total units, extending production through 2022. For years I had heard rumors that total production could go as high as 1,250, so the new number didn’t really surprise me. What did surprise me was the length of production — 6 years.
It’s safe to say my identity, both personally and professionally, has been closely tied to my 2005 Ford GT for more than a decade. The car was featured on a long-term blog for 3 years after I bought it, and it’s had plenty of additional updates since. You can read the entirely of this ownership blog on this site (use the “Ford GT Ownership” link to scroll through them all). My Ford GT also made several high-profile appearances in media stories over the years, including this interview on Autoline After Hours, this color correction story on Forbes and this comparison of all three generations of Ford GT on Kelley Blue Book.
As you can imagine, having that kind of shared history with a car is hard to give up, and the reaction I’ve gotten since announcing my Ford GT sale doesn’t really surprise me. “What?! How could you???” is the theme of most responses.
After 13 years and 31,232 miles I’ve sold my 2005 Ford GT to YouTube maestro Doug DeMuro. Doug and I have done a couple videos together, including the launch of the new Ford GT last year and a review of my 2018 Dodge Demon earlier this year.
Over a year after receiving my Takata airbag recall notice I received a follow-up notice saying the parts were available. It took awhile to get my Ford GT to a local dealership, and I was nervous about letting the dealer service staff drive it. I still worry about people who aren’t familiar with the GT’s shift pattern, because many novice GT drivers confuse 1st and 3rd gear, and driving a Ford GT in 3rd gear at low speeds can quickly fry the clutch.
A consistently rich and diverse collection of cars showed up to my local Cars and Coffee every week when it was in Aliso Viejo. If I have one disappointment regarding Cars and Coffee it’s that I don’t go very often (I’m not a morning person by nature). But I took the Ford GT over a few times before it ended and shifted to San Clemente, and it’s always drawn a solid crowd of admirers.