By Chris Kassab, FCN

Emotions will be running high when the final Ford GT rolls off the assembly line next month in Wixom, but lessons learned from the halo project will benefit the company for years to come.

The Ford GT originally debuted as a concept car at the 2002 North American International Auto Show. According to Hau Thai-Tang, director Advanced Product Creation and Special Vehicle Team (SVT), the excitement surrounding the vehicle was so overwhelming that Bill Ford asked the SVT team to produce three vehicles for the company's centennial celebration, which was scheduled for June of 2003.

"When Bill Ford asked SVT to deliver the Ford GT in time to support our centennial celebration, it was to demonstrate to the world and to ourselves that we can build great products," said Thai-Tang. "I think this will be the greatest legacy of the Ford GT. It is the most technologically advanced and most capable car that we have ever put into production. It is the ultimate expression of our creative design excellence, technical know-how and rich heritage."

Engineering, tooling, producing and assembling the vehicles within 15 months was an enormous challenge, however, since it normally takes up to 52 months to bring a new vehicle through to fruition.

"It was insanely fast," said Camilo Pardo, who designed the GT. "Yet those cars were put together very carefully by hand and their objectives were solid enough and dependable enough that we could give the keys to a journalist, let him drive it around the track and say that this was our production car."

How did they do it? According to Fred Goodnow, the engineering manager who has worked on the GT project since its inception eight years ago, the GT is a shining example of what can be achieved when the company's best talent is recruited and management restraints are lifted.

"We had a very small, highly skilled and specialized workforce – designers, engineers and suppliers -- working together in a very close environment to develop a car that met all the customer and regulatory standards in a fraction of the time by stretching the envelope," said Goodnow. "No decisions were second-guessed, either by the team or by management. And that gave the team the drive and the passion to proceed forward to get it done."

According to Thai-Tang, the new Shelby GT500 is a direct descendant of the GT.

"There was a deliberate transfer of technology, design elements and talent from the Ford GT to the Shelby GT500," he said. "Many of the engineers from the GT program moved on to work on the GT500. In addition, the two vehicles have a common displacement engine with the same valvetrain and similar levels of performance. Other shared hardware includes the brake system along with the tire construction and compound."

Goodnow says that the GT has given birth to a plethora of innovative technologies. Eight technologies were awarded Ford patents. The capless fuel system introduced on the GT is slated for use on future vehicles.

"When you go to gas your car, the first thing you do is open the door and the gas cap is underneath. With the capless fuel system, once you open the door, you're done," explained Goodnow. "By incorporating everything into one system, you have less parts and it's much easier to assemble. So, it saves money and time."

According to Goodnow, the GT project also proved that crash modeling can be done effectively in the virtual world.

"The correlation between our virtual crash modeling, which had never been done before, and what we saw on the real prototypes when we crashed real cars was uncanny," he said. "This is a direct benefit to future Ford cars because it saves a huge amount of time and money. Workhorse prototypes can cost more than a half a million dollars, and we didn't do any for crash."

While the legacy of the Ford GT will live on in future vehicles, it promises to be an emotionally charged moment when production of the GT comes to an end.

"You can't imagine," said Goodnow. "I'm at the twilight of my career, and the GT has been the fulfillment of a dream."

"I'd like to see it go on for another year or two, but I'm content. I've learned a lot from this program," said Pardo. "It has been a complete experience, from the initial sketch to the development of the concept and then walking that concept car through to production.

"I had the rare opportunity to work hand in hand with engineers to understand every functional aspect of the car that had an impact on the exterior -- from the aerodynamics to the suspension to the cooling – because this car is a complete product. The GT is like a machine that breathes in air, produces horsepower and exhales. It is more like a jet aircraft than a car."

And for Thai-Tang?

"It'll be a bittersweet moment for our team. We have always intended the GT to be a low-volume car with a limited production run to ensure exclusivity," he said. "We hope to someday have another chance to do a similar program like the Ford GT. In the meantime, the team will take great satisfaction in knowing that we've delivered the greatest American performance car ever."

 

Good posting Brad. I knew the line was finishing up soon, as balance out is scheduled for 9/06. Sad day if you ask me. This car will go down in automotive history as one of the most amazing supercars ever made, American or Foreign. I love this car, and am thankful I had the chance to drive one a few times, that I'll never forget.

 

We get the last month of production. heh heh

 

That would work for me, as long as I can have my car in the Heritage Blue and Orange, with a custom #23 on the side.