Ever since the inception of Ford Motor Company in 1903, the company has pushed the lengths, boundaries,
and limits of technology. For more than one hundred years, Ford has taken the impossible and made it
possible. Henry Ford always said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster
horse." Since then, Ford has been pushing the boundaries on performance in automobiles. Furthermore,
racing and competition in American automotive have been there since the beginning. As soon the first and
second car rolled out of the factory in Detroit, it was happening all over. All of these variables and characteristics helped Ford Motor Company on the premise it was founded on
competition, innovation, motorsports, and American ingenuity. Pushing forward into the 1930s, Ford was
the first to develop a new innovative design that would have Chevrolet and Dodge following in the man
who started the American automotive industry from scratch. What Henry and Ford's engineers came up with
was an entirely new way to think about engines in the form of the legendary flathead eight cylinder
engine. Unlike previously developed powertrains, engineers went to work to create more power and
efficiency to help potential the 32 Ford coupe into the first original hod-rod. It was moving forward to
the 1960s, which would start an era of performance, unlike any other manufacturer to come. During this time, Ford charged forward with a decade of motorsports and performance written into the
history books for all-time. The 1960s was a time of rebellion in which Ford would create a single time
to create the Ford GT MKII, Mustang, Shelby GT350, Shelby GT500, Gran Torino, Falcon, and Galaxy it was
unlike any other decade for Ford Motor Company. It all led to creating Ford Motorsport, where it would
oversee the creation of racing programs, performance vehicles, and engine development. These steps were
the predecessor in what would become the most exceptional performance department within an automotive
manufacturer anywhere in the world in Ford Performance! Throughout this article, Steeda will give you a complete breakdown of what Ford Performance is and how it
has created some of the most significant performance vehicles in the world.
How Ford Performance Came To Be
Ford Performance Is Born
Shelby GT350: The Original Snake
Ford GT: Ferrari Slayer
Raptor: Baja King
Focus ST: Hot Hatch
Focus RS: Rally Racer
Explorer ST: Family Racer
2020 Shelby GT500: Supercharged Venom
During the 1960s, no company had more success in both performance and motorsports than Ford Motor
Company. It is all dedicated to two factors. The first was the four consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of
Le Mans with the incredible Ford GT MKII from 1966-1969. The second was the inception of the original
pony car in the Mustang. At the time, Ferrari was the juggernaut of the motorsports world where they had
won the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record five times from 1960-1965. This single event started a significant
kickoff to help Ford become the motorsports and performance powerhouse throughout the entire automotive
landscape. From that moment on, it surged Ford Motor Company to create performance models like the
Mustang, where it started the pony car's movement single-handedly. Before all of Fords' monumental achievements during the 1960s, Ford was still it amongst
its competitors on the circuits of NASCAR. As always, Ford Motor Company does better when it is
competing against its most fierce competition. This translates to real innovation, engineering, and
prestige is the relentless pursuit to do better, think better, and come up with new solutions to
everyday problems. These characteristics are what helped Ford initially create Ford Motorsport. For the
next thirty years, Ford would continue that legacy through racing in many motorsport leagues and races,
including the Baja 1000, World Rally Racing, and SCCA Pro Racing. During the 1980s, Ford would introduce a division called SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) in which they
would
create a Mustang unlike any other, a mix of performance and efficiency to aid the original pony
car to have the best of both worlds. It helped take off the innovation in which Ford would continue for
decades to come. Fast forward to 1993, where the founding of what would be the base of all Ford
Performance vehicles to follow. At the end of the Fox Body era of Mustangs came around, Ford put
together an even greater coalition of engineers, designers, and innovators to recreate SVO into SVT
(Special Vehicle Team). SVT would become a department within Ford Motor Company that would transform the performance vehicle
world. Starting with the SVT
Cobra & Cobra R, these two vehicles were
unlike anything the American
performance world hadn't indeed seen since the original 1960s era Mustang and Shelby GT350 & GT500. The
1993 Cobra & Cobra R Mustang would kick off an era of unprecedented prosperity and creation for Ford
Motor Company building upon the legacy of innovation, engineering and strive to get better. The Cobra R
was the first factory-built Mustang that you could purchase and have racecar capability right out of the
showroom. It truly set off a trend for all other manufacturers to follow in the footsteps of Ford. After twenty long years of innovation, prestigious engineering, and sophistication, SVT's final farewell
culminated into the most significant Shelby ever to hit the streets in the 2013 Shelby GT500. SVT made
sure that this serpent was the most prolific snake to ever hit the streets at that time with 662
horsepower and 635 lb/ft of torque, making it the most powerful production Shelby ever to hit the roads
of America.
Due to this culmination of innovation and engineering, Ford had a breakthrough moment when they knew it
was time to push the envelope even further. The result was the formation of the most exceptional
performance and racing division anywhere in the automotive industry. Launched in 2014, Ford Performance merged SVT, SVO, and Ford Racing all under one umbrella. Ford
Performance launched to provide performance-based vehicles from the Ford lineup. The sophistication to
create signature performance models like the
S550 Shelby GT350,
establish the oversight of all motorsports and racing operations, while also helping
the company develop performance-based engineers to aid Ford Motor Company. As soon as the division was
conceived, Ford Performance engineers went right to help start a new era of motorsports and performance.
From there on Ford Performance would go on to create a era of performance unlike any other in the
American automotive industry. Shortly after that, the conception of Ford Performance went hard to work with the Mustang engineering to
help bring a legendary icon back to the market in the Shelby GT350. When the Mustang came to be in 1964,
it did not have the sophistication and muscle it needed to take on the world of performance. That was
until the legend himself came onto the scene, Carroll
Shelby is single-handedly the reason why Ford has
had the success in racing, performance vehicles, and motorsports as a whole. When in 1965, Shelby took
action to take the pony from mule to racehorse to create the GT350 & GT350R, which was the initial
factor in helping the Mustang become the performance vehicle we all know and love help the original pony
car. With the S550 Mustang launch in full effect in 2015, Ford knew it was time to bring back the original
snake that helped start the performance legacy. Unveiled after the S550 debuted, the all-new 2016 Shelby
GT350 was unlike anything Ford and Mustang enthusiasts had ever seen before when it comes to handling,
power, performance, and braking. Equipped with the first-ever Flat Plane Crank 5.2L V8 aka " VooDoo,"
which you
could only find in high-end exotics like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin turned the tide to
aid the muscle car segment to go against rivals from Europe and Japan. Equipped with the capability
of producing 526 horsepower and 429 lb/ft of torque while revving out to a mind-shattering 8,250
RPM. The Ford Performance engineers had created the most track-worthy factory-built Shelby in all of
Mustang
history. While the GT350 was a Cobra not to be intimidated by its big brother, the GT350R
injected more
lethal venom to create a street-legal Shelby ready for any track, autocross, or canyon road.
What makes
the GT350R so vicious is superb aerodynamics, revised chassis tuning, carbon fiber wheels,
larger
brakes, and resonator delete, which create a lethal combination to conquer the competition. Throughout the history of the entire automotive industry worldwide, there isn't a more fabled
story than
what happened in 1964. During the beginning of this year, Ford was at major crossroads to ensure
they
push forward to innovation, engineering, and technology. At this time, Ford focused on producing
a quota
of vehicles and not realizing how the world would flip on its heels towards performance. If
you're a fan
of Ford Motor Company and know its history well, then the story of how Ford tried to buy Ferrari
will
culminate you. At a meeting with Lee Iacocca, Leo Bebe, and Henry Ford II, they discussed the
competitive analysis of how younger baby boomers are looking for a fun and energetic automobile.
While doing this, Lee Iacocca notioned to how Ferrari could help them enter in motorsports
worldwide and,
on the other hand, how Enzo Ferrari was running out of the capital to keep his motorsports and
build
sports cars. What came next is the opportunity hidden under rage from Ferrari himself, in the
contract
that was drafted for Ford Motor Company to buy Ferrari. Upon completing the deal, there was a
clause in
which Enzo was furious because Ford would be in control of the racing team; after that, the
agreement
was null and or voided. Henry Ford II was furious. So what does Ford do best? Like any American
- get to
work and find the best engineers, designers, fabricators, and engine builders within the company
to
destroy Ferrari on the world stage at the 24 Hours Of Le Mans. Shortly after, Ford began searching to bring the best minds throughout Ford Motor Company in The
United
States and Great Britain. Calling upon the legendary racecar turned performance car builder
Carroll Shelby, Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca knew that to become successful in winning at Le
Mans, they
would have to let a man who was the only American to do so. By doing so, Shelby would help
create it is
known as the Ford GT40. It was no easy task to take on what some called to be impossible because
of
Ferrari's total dominance for the last five years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But, Carroll
Shelby knew
anything can be accomplished with determination and American ingenuity. For months and months, both the teams at Shelby American and Ford Motor Company deliberated on
how they
would design the GT40. Luckily the British division at Ford came in clutch to provide the design
of what
would help the GT take advantage of its competition at every corner. The reason why the GT40 was
called
this is due to the height of the GT was forty inches tall. The Ford GT40 is unlike anything had
ever
produced in company history, the GT is the culmination of American innovation at its finest.
Entering
into the 1965 racing season, Ford and Shelby knew that it would be a monumental task to win in
their
first season at Le Mans. Unfortunately, after a very hard-fought first attempt, the Ford GT40 did not finish the race at
all due
to overheating issues and many other component failures. The entire team had to rethink how they
were
going to attack Ferrari and Le Mans altogether. So in 1966, they came back with a revised GT40
called
the
MKII "Mark II." It was equipped with a more powerful 427 Cubic Inch V8 pulled out from the
NASCAR
equipped racecars stuffed into the lightweight chassis of the GT40 that occurred was the fastest
racecar
that has ever been seen on the racetrack at Le Mans at this time. What had happened is something unlike any other in motorsports history, when all things were said
and
done
the Ford GT40 all three came out on top in a one, two, and three finish. This single win ignited
a trend
for Ford Motor Company that continues to this day. After the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford
would win
the next three races in a row while Ferrari would never win another race at Le Mans. Fast
forward to
2016; Ford would shock the world at the Detroit International Autoshow by debuting the third
generation
Ford GT. The third generation Ford GT would be the most advanced, aerodynamic efficiencies, the evolution
of
powertrain, and technologically capable ever in the history of the halo car of Ford Motor
Company. It is
equipped with an expansion of the legendary 3.5L EcoBoost Turbocharged V6, producing 647
horsepower and
550 lb/ft of torque, phasing out the legendary 427 Cubic Inch V8 and the 5.4L 32V Supercharged
V8. Like
the Shelby GT350 & GT350R, The 2016-2021 Ford GT displayed how capable Ford Performance is with
only
less than a decade of being around they continued the legacy of what started in 1966 including
the 2016
Le Man winning #67 Ford GT racecar which landed on the 50th anniversary of the legendary win.
Throughout Ford history, there isn't a more potent performance vehicle than the Shelby GT500.
This
serpent from hell was the brainchild of no other than the infamous Carroll Shelby. Shelby
understood that to bring the Mustang to new heights; he would have to inject even more
venom than his first attempt to turn the Mustang into a racehorse. Shelby always said the 1967 GT500 was
the first vehicle he was genuinely proud to build. Since then, Ford has been pushing the envelope of
performance, engineering, and technology to give enthusiasts the edge over the competition. Fast forward to 2007, where after forty years, Shelby and Ford finally came back together to put together
the most potent serpent to hit the streets. What this did is set the prestige for the most powerful,
vicious, and tire-shredding GT500 ever. The 2020 Shelby GT500
is the most potent cobra to ever hit the streets
among all GT500 models continuing the prestige of power, performance, and heritage.Equipped with the
most technologically advanced V8 that Ford
Performance has ever produced in the " Predator" engine. A 5.2L Supercharged 32V V8 producing 760
horsepower and
640 lb/ft of torque made it the most powerful production Shelby ever to hit the streets. Throughout the long and storied history of Ford Motor Company, trucks have been at the
cornerstone to
make what the legendary American automotive manufacturer has been. During the late
1960s, Ford
positioned themselves to create trucks that could go over any terrain and haul anything.
Well, thanks to
Ford Performance engineers that started in SVT (Special Vehicle Team), they were able to
create the most
incredible purpose-built Baja ready factory pickup. After Ford Performance conditioned
together among all
the Ford departs to build exceptional vehicles. Leading up to 2017, the Ford Performance put all their best assets together; they were
able to create the
second-generation F-150 Raptor,
which would continue the legacy of the original Raptor to help make the
most Baja ready factory truck in history. Featuring triple-bypass Fox Racing shocks, beefier leaf
springs, an all-new high output EcoBoost 3.5L Twin Turbo engine producing 450 horsepower and 510 lb/ft
of torque. All combined with an aluminum body, Ford Performance took charge of aiming to aid customers
in the pursuit of go anywhere and do anything. In the last thirty years or so, Ford has been known to create economic vehicles to help
customers get to
point a to point b while saving fuel along the way. At times, enthusiasts have had to
sacrifice
performance for the economy, well thanks to Ford Performance enthusiasts no longer
having to do it
anymore. Turn to the Focus ST, this vehicle is the premise of years of progression from
cars like the
Taurus SHO from the 1990s and the Focus SVT. With the notion of giving enthusiasts the best of handling, power, functionality, and
efficiency, the
Focus ST came to life.
Launched in 2013, it was the first to give Ford
enthusiasts the best ability to
have a turbocharged hot hatch sedan that could do it all from carving out a canyon road, take on the
autocross, and even a local road course. Equipped with a 2.0L EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine
that combines power and efficiency. Altogether it allows the Focus ST to give everything an enthusiast
needs in terms of a driver's car, economy, and practicality.
Throughout the rally racing world, there isn't a more prestigious name than RS. Rally
Sport is more than
just a name on the legendary lineups that have conquered the racing trails. For the time
ever, you
finally had an RS come to the United States, which excited every hot hatch enthusiast.
The 2016 Focus RS
is the most capable five-door sedan that has ever been built. Equipped with a 2.3L
turbocharged
four-cylinder engine producing 350 horsepower and 350 lb/ft of torque, making it one of
the most potent
hot hatches on the planet. Combine this with engineering marveled four-wheel-drive
system that allows
torque vectoring to have power distributed equally to all four wheels. With Ford Performance engineers at the helm, they took the fabled RS name and delivered a
rally-inspired
Focus for the streets that came with world-class performance, styling, functionality,
and heritage. The
Focus RS is still revered
as one of the great success stories within Ford Performance to this day.
For more than twenty-five years, the Ford Explorer has been aiding every adventurer,
family, and
individual to achieve a practical purpose. Over the years, Ford has continued to give
consumers a
vehicle that ultimately serves what an SUV is supposed to be, as it says in the
namesake. As each
generation of Explorer became equipped with the best technology, drivetrains, and
capability, so did the
desire for consumers' needs. Recently within the last couple of years, Ford has been
making strides to
give customers capability in every facet that consumers need and provide them with the
performance
enthusiasts desire. Turn to the 2020 Explorer
ST. This wholly redesigned, engineered, and capable SUV has changed the
market landscape. Using lessons learned from past ST models like the Edge ST and Focus ST, Ford
delivered a capable Explorer that consumers are accustomed to while giving them a sporty drivetrain to
have fun on any road while maintaining the mission of what an Explorer has always been.
Image Credit: Ford, Ford Performance, Ford
MediaWhat Is Ford Performance?
How Ford Performance Came To Be
Ford Performance Is Born
Shelby GT350: The Original Snake
Ford GT: Ferrari Slayer
2020 Shelby GT500: Supercharged Venom
Raptor: Baja King
Focus ST: Hot Hatch
Focus RS: Rally Racer
Explorer ST: Family Racer
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