The pioneers behind the Ford GT supercar designed it not only to win races but also to serve as a test bed for new technologies and ideas for future vehicles across the Ford lineup. The 2005 Ford GT featured a lightweight aluminium alloy body that helped reduce weight to improve performance. It led to the innovative use of high-strength aluminium alloy in today's Ford F-Series pickup trucks - shedding hundreds of kilogrammes of weight, while also improving capability, performance and fuel efficiency.

The GT's role as a technology test bed is evident throughout the supercar, with some innovations, such as carbon fibre lightweighting, serving as longer-term possibilities, while others are in production today.

Customised Drive Modes that help customers fit a vehicle's performance to specific conditions is expanding. The Ford GT's Track mode, which is offered in the award-winning Ford Focus RS, will also feature on the all new Fiesta ST for the first time next year.

The GT is designed to look fast standing still, and the team optimised every shape to make it as aerodynamic as possible. A key goal was to reduce drag and optimise downforce - giving the supercar stability and grip on the track while accelerating, cornering and braking.

The GT's aerodynamics change on demand to meet varying driving conditions, thanks to moveable elements around the body, including special ducts in the front, and a large deployable wing. The flaps open and close depending on whether the GT's wing is up or down, so the car remains aerodynamically balanced from front to back at all speeds. When the wing is up, the ducts close to increase downforce; when the wing is down, the ducts open to decrease downforce.

The compact six-cylinder design of the car's EcoBoost engine aids the GT's aerodynamics, and allowed the team to taper its fuselage to more efficient dimensions than a larger V8 configuration engine would have allowed. The low placement of the engine's turbochargers and outboard placement of the turbo intercoolers ahead of the rear wheels help to taper the fuselage around the engine.

The Ford GT's 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine is the company's most powerful EcoBoost ever, delivering 647bhp. It was developed alongside the GT race engine and the 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine used in the F-150 Raptor high-performance off-road pickup, which shares almost 60 percent of its parts with the GT's engine.