Legendary Racing Lineage
It All Began in the 60's
The Ford GT40 program in the 1960s was a high-stakes, high-profile effort initiated by Ford Motor Company to break Ferrari's dominance at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
In the early 1960s, Ford attempted to acquire Ferrari to expand its presence in motorsport and boost its image. Negotiations between Henry Ford II and Ferrari broke down in 1963, primarily due to disagreements over control of Ferrari's racing program. In retaliation, Ford decided to build its own racing car to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans, a race where Ferrari had been dominant for nearly a decade.
Development of the GT40, Carroll Shelby
Ford turned to Carroll Shelby, a renowned American car designer and racer, to help develop a car that could take on Ferrari. Shelby and his team were tasked with creating a car that could compete in endurance racing, primarily at Le Mans. The car that resulted from this collaboration was the Ford GT40. GT40 Design: The "GT40" name refers to the car's height—just 40 inches tall.
The car was designed to be low and aerodynamically efficient. It was powered by a Ford 427 V8 engine and featured a lightweight aluminum body, making it fast and competitive in endurance races.
The Battle at LeMans
The Ford-Ferrari rivalry came to a head at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the world’s most prestigious endurance races.
The first official attempt for Ford at Le Mans came in 1964, but their cars failed to finish. Ford's 1965 effort saw some improvements, but the cars were still not ready to challenge Ferrari effectively. It was becoming clear that a serious overhaul of the car was needed. After two years of development, the Ford GT40 program finally hit its stride. The team developed the GT40 Mk II, which featured a more powerful 7.0-liter V8 engine. At the 1966 Le Mans, Ford achieved a legendary victory, taking the top three spots—a stunning defeat for Ferrari, which had been the dominant force at Le Mans for nearly a decade.
Ford continued its dominance in the late 1960s, winning Le Mans every year from 1966 to 1969, including a historic victory in 1967, where Ford also swept the first three positions. By 1969, Ford had solidified its place as a major force in endurance racing.
Homage to the Original
Camilo Pardo
The lead exterior designer of the 2002 Ford GT Concept, the car that led directly to the production 2005–2006 Ford GT. In 2001, Ford launched a secret internal project to create a modern reinterpretation of the 1960s GT40.
Camilo was selected to lead the exterior design under Ford’s design leadership.
His mandate was clear: honor the original GT40 without producing a retro pastiche. He
maintained the low, wide stance and mid-engine proportions.
Reinterpreted the iconic twin stripes, clamshell body, and rear haunches.
Modernized the air intakes, lighting, and surfacing to meet contemporary safety and aerodynamic requirements
Camilo ensured visual continuity with the original while giving the car a clean, aggressive 21st-century presence. Pardo often emphasized that the design was about “capturing emotion and purpose, not copying lines.”
Matech Concepts out of Geneva Switzerland, founded by Martin Bartek, was established in 2006. Partnering with Ford Racing, Matech fielded a number of GT3 variants of the Ford GT successfully on many European circuits. In 2010 however, Matech decided to go for the most ambitious program imaginable at the time for a privateer, another run at LeMans in a Ford derived GT1 Hypercar. The GT1 was lighter, wider and certainly faster than any Ford GT. Powered by a 5.3 naturally aspirated V8 producing 600 HP and mated to a Hewland Xtrac-sequential 6-speed gearbox, the Matech GT1 was able to secure two pole positions in qualifying during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Like the original attempts with the Ford GT40 however, they were plagued with mechanical issues and accidents, not allowing them the glory they aspired to. They were fast though, posting times equal to classes above the GT1 in LMP2.
Enter LYNX Motors-Dawn of the American Hypercar
LYNX Motors has partnered with FC Racing to establish the LYNX GT1 program. After FC Racing acquired all of the Intellectual Property, body molds, Suspension kinematic set up and a myriad of spare parts from the Matech program, FC Racing went about acquiring as many chassis available from Ford Racing. The goal, develop an epic track car. 3 years later, FC Racing had completed three cars including two engine variants and transmissions. But the goal was far from achieved. This program had the makings of a Street legal American Hypercar. Partnering with LYNX Motors, the goal was clear; develop the full street version of the GT1 and partner with the best bespoke production operation in the US. In March of 2025, LYNX announced the partnership with Graham Rahal Performance to construct this epic Hypercar with a race proven lineage dating back to the GT40 days. In November of 2025, the first Street version entered production.
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