1997 Ford F350 Dually on 2040-cars

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Ford GT to be revived, Le Mans battle upcoming

Ford dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1966 to 1969, scoring four consecutive wins. Wouldn't it be great if the Blue Oval could go back to France for the 50th anniversary of that performance and show it can still compete in international endurance racing? Actually, the latest rumors indicate that could be exactly the case, and the car taking that checkered flag could be another revival of the Ford GT.
As the rumblings go, Ford wants to use a new supercar to take another crack at Le Mans, after considering some other possible alternatives. Substantiating these musings are reports that a Blue Oval rep was reportedly on hand for a recent meeting about 2016 GTE-Class rules, according to Road and Track. That would put the new GT in the same racing class as the Corvette, Ferrari 458 Italia, Porsche 911 and others.
It's not all about racing, though. If you win on Sunday, you want something to be able to sell on Monday. The revived GT is reportedly still a mid-engine supercar, but the exact engine is unclear. It's possible that it could even be shown or announced at the Detroit auto show in January, according to Motor Trend.

John Hennessey's personal 2015 HPE700 Supercharged Ford Mustang GT hits 195 mph

Dressed in a coat of menacing black paint, the 2015 Hennessey Performance HPE700 Supercharged Ford Mustang GT definitely looks like one mean muscle machine. The 717-horsepower 'Stang proved that it can back up that aggressive appearance recently when company founder John Hennessey took his personal example to see just how fast it would go. The result down the 1.1-mile straight at the Continental Tires Proving Grounds in Uvalde, Texas, was over 195 miles per hour. The Mustang is nothing but a black blur and wall of supercharger wail as it buzzes by the camera at top speed. Despite the strong result, Hennessey doesn't seem done with the 'Stang yet. The car still seems to be pulling when it hits the rev limiter, and there's some straight track left ahead. After getting out, John Hennessey immediately says he thinks 200 mph is possible. The heart of the HPE700 is a 2.9-liter Roots-Type supercharger running at 7.25 psi. That's a pretty massive blower, especially when considering the 2.4-liter unit on the Hellcat V8. The engine also gets upgrades like improved injectors, a new fuel pump, stainless steel exhaust and recalibrated management. The company claims the upgraded Mustang can hit 60 in around 3.6 seconds and do the quarter-mile in 11.2 seconds at 131 mph. Prices for the package start at $59,500, but this one would would ring up for $65,874. Hennessey Performance is limiting production to 500 of them for the 2015 model year. 2015 HPE700 Supercharged Mustang Rockets to 195.2 mph John Hennessey takes his personal Mustang GT on a Texas road trip Uvalde, Texas-Everything is bigger in Texas, especially when it comes to automotive performance. Texas also lays claim to the highest posted speed limit in America at 85 mph. Enter the team from Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) who are located just west of Houston. John Hennessey and his merry band of performance car builders like to go fast, so much so that they have their own 1/4 mile dragstrip next to their workshop. Recently, the Hennessey team wanted to test their 717 horsepower HPE700 Supercharged Mustang development car (John's personal car and occasional daily driver) beyond the 130+ mph speeds that they have seen on the dragstrip. "Thankfully, we had recently received an invitation from the guys at the Continental Tires proving grounds in Uvalde to come over and do some testing on their 8.0 mile high speed oval", said Hennessey.

1964 Ford GT40 prototype to be auctioned in April

The Ford GT40 owns a firm spot on the list of the greatest American racecars ever made, being the first car from the United States to take an overall win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And now Mecum will auction what it claims is second-oldest GT40 still in existence at its Houston sale on April 12.
The story of the GT40 is fascinating. Henry Ford II attempted to buy Ferrari in the early '60s, but Enzo refused. Ford decided if he couldn't have them, then he would beat the Prancing Horse on the track. Ford went to Carroll Shelby and asked him to spearhead the program. The early cars combined a steel monocoque chassis with Ford's 4.2-liter V8 engine pumping out around 350 horsepower. The first prototype made its public debuted on April 1, 1964, at the New York Auto Show.
Shelby kept building prototypes, including GT/104, which is for sale here. This version featured a lighter steel chassis and was raced at Le Mans in 1964. However, a fire forced it to retire. It was then repainted and had a 4.7-liter (289-cubic-inch) engine fitted. The chassis had its best finish at the 1965 Daytona Continental 2,000 Kilometers where it finished third with Bob Bondurant and Ritchie Ginther behind the wheel. Later that season, it was shipped back to Ford where it was restored and displayed at auto shows until 1971 when the automaker sold it. Since then, it has had many private owners.