[ad_1]
Would you believe it if someone told you that the fastest car on the planet is a Ford? That might seem like a strange concept, but if you look at Ford’s racing heritage, you might start to think it’s entirely possible. The Ford GT badge carries a lot of history. And one particular 2006 Ford GT model just added more accolades to that history. It has a proud owner and a name, and it has been improved many times throughout its life. Meet Johnny Bohmer’s 2006 Ford “BADD GT”.
These Men Did the Impossible
The team involved in modifying Bohmer’s 2006 Fort GT around the car before its record-breaking run
About two weeks ago, on December 9th, Johnny Bohmer raced through the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with his Gas Monkey Garage-sponsored 2006 Ford GT. And boy what a run it was. Heavily modified, but street legal, with proper registration and insurance, the 2006 GT reached an astonishing 310.8 MPH. It appears that it can also go faster if it only has a small runway.
A Small Forecast
While gathering data and testing the new ECU and Race pack, Bohmer felt the car was performing so well that he decided to stay on the throttle in last gear. The result shocked his team. And what’s amazing to realize is that they feel like they’re just starting to test the limits of this car. Bohmer himself said that in its current configuration, they could easily add another 500 to 700 horsepower to really kick it into high gear and reach a higher top speed.
Just imagine the possibilities. It’s now the fastest street-legal car ever on a standing mile. This car is so versatile that they managed to put about 2700 horsepower into its twin-turbocharged V-8 without, well, literally blowing up the engine. That’s a lot of ponies added on top of the GT’s stock 550 horsepower. And make no mistake about it. Johnny Bohmer uses this car as a daily driver, despite being a rocket ship on wheels.
The moment Johnny realized he hit 310.8 MPH in his 2006 Ford GT “BADD GT”
Gas Monkey Garage, the shop that sponsors and works with Bohmer is excited about the possibilities of this car. They hope to make more runs and set records that will last for years. We should expect to see a new run soon. Hope they succeed and be safe. The automotive world is fixated on this amazing achievement and is cheering for more. And by the looks of it, we’ll be blown away again pretty soon.
Rich Racing Pedigree
The three GT40s that raced at Le Mans in 1964
The Ford GT40 made history and cemented itself in the hall of legendary sports cars. Many car lovers have seen the movie Ford vs Ferrari and know its history. If you haven’t already, here’s a quick rundown of how this awesomeness happened and what it means for the US and Ford. Without spoiling the movie, of course.
The OG Ford GT40 was commissioned in the early 60s by the Ford Motor Company. Its goal is to win the 24-hour race of Le Mans against Ferrari. GT stands for Grand Touring and the project stems from Ford’s strong desire to be a player in performance motorsports.
Henry Ford II’s first strategy was to buy the upstart Ferrari clean off. But old Enzo turned down the deal because he had to give up his autonomy over his brand and sent the guys from Ford home empty-handed. From this point, legend has it that Henry Ford II told Donald Frey to “go to Le Mans, and beat his ass”.
A 1965 GT 40 mk2 racing at Le Mans
Don Frey rose from product manager to vice president and chief engineer at Ford. He enlisted the help of Roy Lunn who was then running the Advanced Vehicle Department at Ford. They both presented a confidential competition program to Ford executives. This program covers a mid-engine race car called the GT40. You already know what GT stands for, the 40 is because of its low height of 40 inches.
Lunn is originally British and worked with Aston Martin in their late 1940s Le Mans efforts. He returned to the old country and landed at the door of British car manufacturer Lola Cars. Lola built a racing car named the Mk6 GT with a mid-mounted 289 cubic-inch (4.75 liters) Ford V-8 Engine. The Mk6 had an aluminum body to reduce weight and was basically a GT40 prototype. Only three Mk6 GTs were made. Lunn bought two and returned to Ford Advanced Vehicles HQ in Slough to work.
To make a long story short, after a series of mishappenings, the job of building a winning GT40 was handed to Carroll Shelby. The MkII GT40 went on to win at Daytona in 1965 and 1966. And later that same year came victory at Le Mans with three Ford GT40s finishing in first, second, and third place. The MkII GT40’s winning streak continued until 1969.
Ford brought back the GT of course to celebrate its centenary, but importantly; the latest second-gen GT has been a dominant force at Le Mans since its introduction in 2006.
[ad_2]
Source link
