2005 Ford GT

The company's image vehicle helped develop engineering skills in the race to production.

When Ford Motor Co. found itself battered by the Explorer rollover controversy and failing finances a couple of years ago, the company concluded that its salvation lay in a renewed focus on appealing products. As Chrysler had used the Viper a decade earlier, Ford launched a plan to build a modern GT40 to highlight the company's new generation of products.

“We had four reasons for doing this program,” recalled Chris Theodore, Ford's Vice President of Advanced Product Creation. “First was for the centennial. Second was to polish the Blue Oval with a ‘halo’ product. Third was that next year is the year of the car for Ford. The GT is going to be a magnet to attract customers into the showroom so they can discover the new cars like the Ford Five Hundred sedan, the Freestyle crossover, and the new Mustang. The fourth reason was to develop engineers. Racing builds great engineers, but better still is a fast production program. That's real-world engineering in a racecar time frame.”