2017 Ford GT vs. 2005 Ford GT

Ford has only built two generations of its GT supercar, and Kelley Blue Book’s Karl Brauer — who owns one himself — puts the 2005 original against the 2017 successor to see exactly how far the engineering moved in twelve years. From a supercharged V8 to a twin-turbo V6 and an all-new carbon monocoque, the changes go well beyond styling. Owning one shapes how Brauer sees both cars, and it shows throughout the comparison. Watch how differently a decade of engineering plays out.

Ford has only built two generations of its GT supercar, separated by more than a decade of engineering evolution, and both are already collector pieces in their own right. Putting them side by side isn’t just a styling exercise — it’s a chance to see exactly how far mid-engine supercar technology moved in the years between them, filtered through the perspective of someone who actually owns one of them. Karl Brauer isn’t a hired presenter reading a script here; he’s a Ford GT owner comparing his own car against its successor, and that changes the entire conversation.

Two Generations, One Owner’s Perspective

Karl Brauer, Executive Publisher at Kelley Blue Book, brings a perspective to this comparison that a typical reviewer simply doesn’t have — he owns a Ford GT himself, which means his read on the differences between the 2005 and 2017 models comes from lived experience rather than a single day behind the wheel of a press loaner. That ownership angle shapes the entire video, turning what could have been a generic spec comparison into a genuinely personal assessment of what changed, what stayed the same, and what Ford got right the second time around.

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Styling: Evolution, Not Reinvention

Visually, the two generations share an unmistakable family resemblance — the low, wide stance and the GT40-inspired silhouette carry through from 2005 to 2017 — but the details tell a very different story. The 2017 car trades some of the original’s retro-modern styling cues for a more aggressive, aerodynamically driven design, with prominent buttresses and active aero elements that simply weren’t part of the vocabulary of supercar design in the mid-2000s. It’s evolution rather than reinvention, which is exactly the balance Ford needed to strike with a nameplate this historically loaded.

What a Decade of Engineering Actually Changed

Under the skin, the changes go far deeper than the bodywork suggests. The 2005 GT relied on a supercharged V8 rooted in Ford’s established performance engineering, while the 2017 model moved to a twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 paired with an all-new carbon-fiber monocoque chassis — a shift that reflects just how much motorsport-derived technology filtered down into Ford’s road car program over that twelve-year gap. That powertrain change alone was controversial among purists when it was announced, since dropping cylinders on a flagship supercar felt, to some fans, like a step backward on paper.

Performance on Paper vs. Performance in the Real World

In practice, the 2017 GT’s twin-turbo V6 produces more power and a faster real-world driving experience than the supercharged V8 it replaced, proving that displacement and cylinder count aren’t the whole story when it comes to outright performance. Brauer’s comparison gets at this directly, contrasting the visceral, naturally-progressive power delivery of the 2005 car against the more explosive, turbocharged character of its successor — two completely different ways of achieving supercar-level acceleration, built more than a decade apart.

The Investment Question Neither Car Answers Simply

Long-term investment potential is where the video gets genuinely interesting, since both generations of Ford GT have already proven to be strong collector assets, appreciating well beyond their original sticker prices. The 2005 model, produced for just two years, established the template for the modern GT as a limited-run halo car with real appreciation potential, and the 2017 model — built in similarly constrained numbers and sold through a controlled application process — appears to be following the same trajectory, even as it remains a comparatively newer, less battle-tested market.

Why Kelley Blue Book Framed It This Way

Kelley Blue Book’s framing throughout leans heavily on real-world ownership value rather than just performance figures, which fits the publication’s broader mission of helping buyers understand what a car is actually worth to own, not just how quickly it accelerates. Structuring the video as a direct back-to-back comparison, with an actual owner narrating the differences, gives the content a credibility that a standard studio review segment wouldn’t have carried nearly as effectively.

What This Comparison Tells Future GT Buyers

For anyone chasing a Ford GT of either generation, this comparison functions as a genuinely useful primer — not just on which car is objectively faster, but on how differently each one drives, what each represents within Ford’s performance history, and how each has performed as a long-term asset. Two cars, one badge, and more than a decade of change between them: it’s a rare chance to see a manufacturer’s entire supercar philosophy evolve in real time.

What Both Generations Actually Sell For Today

The 2005-2006 Ford GT, produced for just two model years, has seen its collector value climb well past its original sticker price, with clean examples now regularly trading in the mid-to-high six figures depending on mileage and options. The 2017-2022 second-generation GT, sold through a controlled application process that limited who could even purchase one new, has followed a similar early trajectory, with values holding firm or climbing above MSRP almost immediately after cars reached their original owners. Both generations benefit from the same fundamental scarcity — Ford deliberately limited production on each — but the second generation’s even tighter allocation process has arguably made it the harder car to simply walk in and buy, original owner or not.

Why Ford Keeps Coming Back to This Nameplate

Ford has revived the GT nameplate only twice since the original GT40 dominated Le Mans in the 1960s, each time treating it as a genuine halo project rather than a routine model update, and each time using it as a showcase for whatever cutting-edge technology Ford’s performance and motorsport programs had developed at the time. That pattern — building a GT specifically to demonstrate technological leadership rather than to maximize sales volume — is what gives both the 2005 and 2017 cars their outsized cultural weight relative to their tiny production numbers, and it’s exactly the kind of context that turns a simple two-car comparison video into a meaningful look at how Ford’s entire performance philosophy evolved across more than a decade. For enthusiasts, that shared thread across both generations is what makes owning either GT feel less like owning a fast car and more like owning a piece of Ford’s ongoing argument for why it still belongs in the supercar conversation at all.

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