A leaked floor plan of the Ford stand at the Detroit Motor Show reportedly hints at the reveal of a possible Ford GT successor and Shelby Mustang GT350R.
LOOKING CLOSELY at the above picture shows the Ford stand centred around ‘Phoenix’ with both the Ford GT and GT40 flanking the entry to the stand. It has been rumoured for the last month that Ford would introduce either its recently confirmed Focus RS or its not confirmed GT successor.
It seems, if the floor plan is to be believed (it was published on Auto Spies) that the latter will be revealed under the codename Phoenix. Ford announced before Christmas that all its performance vehicles, and there’ll be 12 of them between now and 2020, would be produced under its Ford Performance brand. These vehicles are being engineered by a US-based team for the world.
It makes sense that Ford would introduce a GT successor at the Detroit Motor Show as 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the GT40’s Le Mans 24 Hour win; it’s expected Ford will reveal a racing version of the GT to compete at the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hour shortly after the road-going supercar is revealed.
The Phoenix isn’t the only codenamed vehicle to appear on the Ford stand. The Hummingbird 2 is also referenced and sits on the main stand to the rear of the Phoenix; Hummingbird 2 is expected to be the Shelby Mustang GT350R, while alongside it sits the F-150 Raptor.
