GT Mk IV

Make
Ford
Segment
Coupe

Ford isn't exactly a company that shies away from performance models. Indeed, some of the most iconic cars the firm has ever produced have leaned more towards the sportier side of the spectrum. The Mustang is perhaps the prime example of this. Yes, the family trees for the various 'Stang generations have always started off with less potent entry-level models, but the multiple incarnations of the Mustang do historically evolve into faster and leaner beasts.

And that's before the Mustang was shipped off to Shelby, where the obligatory Cobra badges and big-block V8 engines come into play. Likewise, Ford's more mainstream ranges are generally topped off by a sportier model. Though we've only just got our mitts on an RS-branded Focus hatchback, our colleagues from across the pond have been enjoying pocket rocket Ford hatchbacks and sedans for donkey's years, ranging from tiny tin tops like the Ford Fiesta XR2 to the touring-car-wannabe Sierra Cosworth and the cult classic Escort Mexico. Heck, Ford even manages to make performance models out of pick-up trucks.

All of us here at CarBuzz would love to know who wants a faster Raptor, but there must be enough of them for Ford to offer a 385-hp 5.0-litre V8 in the F-150 range! Put simply, Ford is no real stranger to sports cars. However, it doesn't quite explain why the Blue Oval is in the final stages of developing a mid-engined supercar that's completely at odds with everything else the company makes. Of course, we know supercars aren't a new phenomenon for Ford. About a decade or so ago, the previous Ford GT was on sale, and eons before that Ford somehow managed to shift seven examples of the road-legal GT40 Mk III.

There's no denying, then, that Ford is one of only a handful of non-exotic car manufacturers that's managed to make a business case for multiple supercar models, and for that, it should be applauded. After all, many upmarket brands have had a go at cracking the supercar whip-Maserati with the MC12, Jaguar's XJ220 and C-X75, Lexus' "it'll be done when it's done" LFA-yet a handful have managed to make a follow-up model. Only Audi and Honda, with the R8 and NSX respectively, have joined Ford in making a blue collar supercar sequel. Except this new GT won't be a "blue collar" car.

Whereas the new Audi R8 and Honda NSX are priced against rivals along the lines of the McLaren 650S and Ferrari 488 GTB, Ford's new GT's expected to go for somewhere in the region of $400,000. That's right. Here is a Ford (albeit a highly exclusive one with just 250 units made per year) that's worth just as much brand new as a Lamborghini Aventador. We sure live in a crazy world, don't we? As we stated earlier, the whole Ford supercar thing isn't a strange occurrence, and we'd have normally discounted the GT from a series like this. There have been enough GTs now for them to be generally accepted as a regular part of Ford's road car range.

However, that monstrous price tag was enough to tip us over the edge on this one. When Ford's next most expensive model, the $61,295 Shelby GT350R, if you were wondering, will be roughly six times cheaper than the GT, you know your mid-engined, Lamborghini-baiting supercar is one unusual flagship model.