Cars Worth Noting: 2005 Ford GT

I know now why they call these halo cars. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Just the image of the Ford GT is enough to get automotive blood pumping. Imagine the opportunity to, not only drive a GT, but drive one on Ford’s five-mile-long high-speed oval at the company’s Romeo, Mich., test facility.

The GT sits very low to the ground, accentuated by the Lincoln Navigators and Super Duty pickups sitting just across the road. From our vantage point, it looks like the GT might be able to drive right under them.

I buckle up and bring the 550-hp supercharged V-8 to life singing sweetly just behind my right shoulder. I have to scrunch down in the seat as the door is shut — the pseudo gullwing roof panel threatening to scalp me.

The clutch is unexpectedly smooth as I grab first gear and send the GT launching down the front straight heading into the first high-banked turn. It’s a pleasure to drive, well balanced, steady and quiet, save for the purr of the engine.

It settles sweetly into the top lane on the banking nearing 100 mph. As the car settles down onto the backstretch I give it a little throttle and watch the speedometer edge up to a very conservative 130 mph. You don’t want to be the guy who breaks the roller coaster when there are still a lot of folks waiting in line.

I ease off the throttle slightly as the GT climbs the high-banked turn three and it holds steady without a twitch or whimper from the steering wheel or throttle.

As I ease the car off the banking, a line of, (patiently-waiting) smiling journalists come quickly into view. The GT slows from tripledigits to nothing with very little effort.

This is one impressive supercar — built to beat the best from Ferrari, yet tame enough to be a daily driver. The GT is more than just a halo car. Ford has, once again, earned its wings.