Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn announced the 2022 Ford GT LM Edition, designed to honor this country’s only Le Mans-winning supercar that includes wins in 2016 and the historic 1-2-3 podium sweep in 1966.
“With innovative materials, design, and engineering, the Ford GT is unlike any other production supercar,” says Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports. “As we close this chapter of the road-going Ford GT, the GT LM Edition gave us a chance to inject even more heart and soul from a podium-finishing racecar, furthering the tribute to our 2016 Le Mans win.”
With its carbon fiber body lacquered in Liquid Silver exterior paint, the limited-edition Ford GT LM is uniquely finished in either a red or blue theme throughout, honoring the red and blue race livery of the Le Mans winning No. 68 Ford GT.
For a unique appearance, customers can choose from exposed red or blue tinted carbon fiber that underscores the lower aerodynamics of the supercar. This includes tinting the ultra-lightweight material on the front splitter, side sills, and door sills, plus engine bay louvers, mirror stalks, and rear diffuser. Exposed gloss carbon fiber 20-inch wheels with corresponding red or blue inner-barrel accents, plus titanium lug nuts and Brembo brake calipers lacquered in black to further modernize this package.
Unique to the Ford GT LM is a 3-D titanium-printed dual-exhaust that features a cyclonic design inside the tips and hints at the twin-turbo 660 horsepower EcoBoost engine. Above the tips, a titanium GT LM badge also is 3-D printed.
Inside, the Ford GT LM’s interior features unique appointments including Alcantara-wrapped carbon fiber seats with a matching red or blue driver’s seat, and Ebony passenger seat with accent stitching that matches the driver’s seat color, as well as the engine start button.
The instrument panel is wrapped in Ebony leather and Alcantara, while pillars and headliner are wrapped in Ebony Alcantara. Carbon fiber carries into the cabin, appearing on the console, vent registers, and lower A-pillars with a matte finish.
Making the Ford GT LM Edition a special final tribute, the Ford Performance team looked for ways to embed the Le Mans podium-finishing spirit into each road car.
As a result, the team located the third-place 2016 Ford GT No. 69 racecar’s engine that was disassembled and shelved after the race, ground down the crankshaft into a powder, and developed a unique bespoke alloy used to 3-D print the instrument panel badge for each of the 20 special-edition supercars.
The Ford GT LM adds to the celebration of the supercar’s landmark moments in motorsports history, including, of course, its Le Mans titles. In all, the series includes 10 ultra-limited-edition supercars.
First, the 2022 Ford GT Holman Moody Heritage Edition honoring the company’s 1966 Le Mans sweep and the race team that innovated the capability of the GT40 MK II to deliver a brake setup matching the racecar’s 200 mph-plus speeds — only 21 built.
Second, the 2022 Ford GT Alan Mann Heritage Edition honoring the No. 16 Alan Mann Ford GT MK I lightweight experimental prototype that helped pave the way for the 1-2-3 sweep at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans — only 30 built.
Third, the 2022 Ford GT ’64 Prototype Heritage Edition honoring Ford GT’s roots and the earliest five original Ford GT prototypes — only 27 built.
Fourth, the 2021 Ford GT ’66 Daytona Heritage Edition honoring the Ford GT MK II No. 98 racecar that gave Ford a 1-2-3-5 domination at Daytona in 1966, kicking off a magical season for the Ford GT40 MK II — only 50 built.
Fifth, the 2020 Ford GT ’69 Gulf Livery Heritage Edition honoring the Ford GT40 MK I No. 6 racecar that was victorious at Le Mans in 1969 — only 50 built
Sixth, the 2019 Ford GT ’68 Gulf Livery Heritage Edition honoring Ford GT40 MK I No. 9 racecar that was victorious at Le Mans in 1968 — only 50 built.
Seventh, the 2018 Ford GT ’67 Heritage Edition honoring Ford GT40 MK IV No. 1 racecar that was victorious at Le Mans in 1967 — only 39 built.
Eight, the 2017 Ford GT ’66 Heritage Edition honoring Ford GT40 MK II No. 2 that won 1966 Le Mans race — only 27 built
Ninth, the 2006 Ford GT Gulf Livery Heritage Edition commemorating GT40’s back-to-back 24 Hours of Le Mans titles in 1968 and 1969 — only 343 built.
In addition, the Ford GT Mk II, a limited-edition, track-only GT co-developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic also concludes by the end of the year with a total of 45 vehicles.
In related news: Ford reported it September sales numbers, which showed an 8.9 percent drop in total vehicles sales to 142,644 units, while its total electric vehicle (EV) sales increased 197.3 percent to 4,691 units.
“Ford continued to see high-demand vehicles turning at record rates in September, while developing electric truck and van leadership and extending our overall truck leadership,” says Andrew Frick, vice president of sales, distribution, and trucks at Ford Blue. “Demand remains strong with new retail orders rapidly expanding. We are very pleased with the work from our dealers, employees, and the area’s first responders, as they are working tirelessly to recover in Florida from Hurricane Ian.”
Demand is strong with retail orders for 2023 model year vehicles up 244 percent over 2022 model year vehicles, totaling 197,000 retail vehicle orders. Ford continues to see strong demand growth and record turn rates on dealer lots. For the sixth straight month, more than 50 percent of Ford retail sales came from previously placed orders.
Ford electric vehicles sales continue to outpace the segment, with sales up 197.3 percent. Ford share of the electric vehicle segment was up in September 3.1 percentage points over last year with a 7.0 percent share.
The F-150 Lightning sales totaled 8,760 since its launch this year in June. F-150 Lightning remains one of Ford’s fastest-turning vehicles on dealer lots, turning in just 8 days. Mustang Mach-E sales increased 47.3 percent over last year, while turning in just 10 days on dealer lots.
In September, F-150 Lightning continued as America’s best-selling electric pickup, while E-Transit was also America’s best-selling electric van. F-Series through September continues as the best-selling truck in the U.S., totaling 467,307 vehicle sales and extending its lead over its second-place competitor to over 92,000 trucks.
Bronco SUVs gained 221 percent on sales of 10,892 for the month — 99 percent of Bronco’s retail sales came from previously placed orders for the month.
Sales of Ford hybrid vehicles totaled 74,046 vehicles through September. Year-to-date sales of hybrid vehicles were up 22.6 percent over last year. F-150 and Maverick hybrids represent the best-selling hybrid trucks in the U.S.
The Ford Maverick truck turned on dealer lots in just 6 days last month with sales up 523 percent. More than 80 percent of Maverick’s customers are first-time truck buyers, with top competitive conquests coming from CR-V, RAV4, and Civic.
Ford’s BlueCruise and Lincoln ActiveGlide technology now have accumulated more than 21 million hands-free miles with a 130,000-mile network of hands-free Blue Zones across North America. More than 83,000 customers have now enrolled in the programs.
Over 80 percent of Super Duty retail sales last month came from previously placed orders. New orders for Maverick totaled more than 86,000 vehicles in September — a new record for orders, coming in while order banks were open just one week.
On improved inventory flow, Lincoln Aviator sales totaled 2,088 – up 21.0 over a year ago and 20.6 percent relative to August. For the month, 54 percent of Aviator retail sales came from previously placed orders.
