Ride in a 2005 Ford GT the Greatest Ford Design Ever ? Why Not!

Randy Smalley has owned his white-and-blue 2005 Ford GT since it was new, a Le Mans-inspired supercar he still drives through the Phoenix suburbs rather than storing away. Viewers have called its value trajectory ‘appreciating faster than it could even drive,’ a fitting line for a car built to answer Ford’s own GT40 legacy. Nearly twenty years later, the debate over whether the original supercharged V8 beats the modern turbocharged GT is still going strong. See what makes this one worth the ride.

Ford built the 2005 GT to answer a question nobody had asked out loud: what happens when a modern automaker builds a tribute to its own most famous race car and refuses to cut corners? Randy Smalley has owned his answer since it was new, a white example with blue racing stripes he keeps in the Phoenix suburbs and still drives rather than stores. One commenter on this video called the car’s price trajectory “appreciating faster than it could even drive,” a strange compliment for something built to hit triple digits on a track. What makes an owner hang onto a car for over a decade while its value multiplies around him?

A GT40 Tribute Built Without Compromise

The Ford GT that rolled off the line in 2005 was never meant to be a casual homage. Ford engineered it as a direct spiritual successor to the GT40 that won Le Mans outright in the 1960s, right down to the mid-engine layout and low-slung silhouette that makes the car look like it is doing 100 mph while parked. Smalley’s example, finished in white with blue stripes, wears the exact color scheme most associated with Ford’s Le Mans-winning heritage, a deliberate choice that ties this street car directly back to the race cars it was built to honor.

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The Investment Nobody Saw Coming in 2005

When new, the 2005 Ford GT carried a sticker price hovering around $150,000, steep for the era, but nowhere near what values would eventually climb to. As one viewer pointed out in the comments, these cars have appreciated by roughly 100 percent or more since new, an unusual outcome for what was, at its core, a limited-run halo car rather than a dedicated investment vehicle. Smalley bought his GT as a car to drive and enjoy, not to flip, which makes the appreciation a bonus rather than the point, and explains why he still takes it out rather than locking it away.

What the Ride-Along Reveals About Daily Livability

Riding along in Smalley’s GT, host Lou Costabile notes just how usable the car remains despite its race-bred underpinnings, a supercharged V8 mounted just behind the cabin, a manual gearbox, and a driving position that puts the occupants nearly at road level. It is a car built to be driven hard, not admired from a rope line, and Smalley’s willingness to take it out in Mesa traffic rather than reserve it for shows only reinforces that the GT was engineered as a genuine road car first and a collector’s piece second.

Why Le Mans Still Matters to This Car’s Story

Ford’s 1966 sweep of the podium at Le Mans, when GT40s finished first, second, and third ahead of Ferrari’s factory team, remains one of the most celebrated moments in American motorsport history, and it is the single event the modern GT was built to honor. That victory ended Ferrari’s six-year winning streak at the race and became the subject of its own Hollywood film decades later, cementing the GT40 legend for an audience far wider than dedicated racing fans. Smalley’s white-and-blue GT, wearing the same color scheme campaigned by Ford’s factory team that day, carries that history forward every time it leaves the garage, turning a modern production car into a rolling reference to one of racing’s most famous underdog stories.

The Modern GT Comparison Fans Can’t Resist

Comments on the video inevitably turn to comparing the 2005 GT against its 2017 successor, which swapped the naturally aspirated-feel V8 for a twin-turbo EcoBoost V6. Several viewers made clear where their loyalty lands: the original’s supercharged V8 delivers a rawer, more mechanical experience that the newer car’s turbocharged engine cannot fully replicate, even with more horsepower on paper. That divide, old-school displacement and a supercharger whine versus modern turbo efficiency, has become one of the more spirited debates among Ford GT owners and enthusiasts online.

Why Some Fans Wanted a Cheaper GT40 Tribute Instead

Not every comment on the video was pure celebration. Several viewers expressed a wish that Ford had also built a more affordable GT40-inspired car, something in the $50,000 range with just the essentials of traction control, ABS, and rev-matching, stripped of the luxury features that push the real GT’s price into six figures. It is a debate that resurfaces every time Ford teases a new performance model: whether the brand should chase a halo car for collectors or a genuinely attainable sports car for enthusiasts who will never own an original GT.

Ownership at This Level: What It Takes to Keep a GT Running Right

Owning a Ford GT of this vintage means staying ahead of a supercharged engine’s cooling and belt-drive maintenance, keeping the mid-engine layout’s tighter service access in mind, and sourcing parts that are increasingly specialized as the model ages out of Ford’s mainstream dealer network. Smalley’s decision to keep driving the car rather than trailer it to every event suggests an owner comfortable with that upkeep, treating the GT as a machine to be exercised regularly rather than a static collectible that only comes out for photos.

The GT Badge’s Long Road From Concept to Cult Icon

Ford’s decision to greenlight a modern GT began years before Smalley’s car rolled off the line, starting as a concept unveiled at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show to celebrate the company’s centennial. The production version that followed stayed remarkably faithful to that concept, a rarity in an industry where show cars are routinely watered down before reaching dealer lots. That faithfulness to the original vision is part of why cars like Smalley’s have aged into genuine icons rather than forgotten limited editions, and why the GT badge now carries weight across three separate generations of Ford’s flagship supercar.

A Halo Car That Keeps Earning Its Reputation

Two decades on, the 2005 Ford GT has settled into a rare category: a modern car that collectors already treat with the reverence usually reserved for machines twice its age. Smalley’s white-and-blue example, still driven and still drawing comment sections full of admiration, is a reminder of why Ford’s gamble on a GT40 tribute paid off. Whether the next generation of GT buyers chases the original’s raw supercharged character or embraces where Ford has taken the nameplate since, this car’s reputation only seems to be growing.

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