Back in the 60s, automotive racing history was about to change when Henry Ford II decided that it was time for America to be well-represented at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The European domination, most notably that of Ferrari->ke252, gave Ford the motivation to built an American race car that could take the fight to the Italian Prancing Horse. And so, the Ford GT project was born and at the 1966 Le Mans race, Ford->ke31 did the unthinkable, scoring a 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans and setting off a three-year run when the American automaker reigned supreme at the 24-hour endurance race.

Fast forward to 2005 and the production version of the Ford GT - limited as they were - was born under the guise of being the company's "Centennial Supercar". This, of course, leads us to this year and the Ford GT still holds acclaim for being the only Ford supercar to be built.

It's omniscient looks, coupled with its standing as a true American original, has made the Ford GT a tuning favorite, particularly from US-based aftermarket companies. One such company, Hennessey Performance Engineering, recently took the task of building performance programs for the venerable supercar, including one that gives the GT a mouth-watering output of 1,000 horsepower. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything more awesome than that.

UPDATE 03/26/2012: The Ford GT 1000 Twin Turbo just established a standing mile record of 257.7 mph, officially becoming the fastest car at Texas Mile (for cars running on the Chase Field runway in Beeville).

Hennessey attempted to break the standing mile record in 2011 with the Ford GT as well, but fell short at just 235 mph. The first day of the 2012 Texas Mile brought them up to 246.8 mph, but the second day was the true triumph with the 257.7 mph record. The victorious Ford GT by Hennessey is owned by Mark Heidaker and driven by Sean Kennedy.

UPDATE 05/16/2012: Now, the supercar has set a new world record. With Sean Kennedy behind the wheel, the Hennessey GT posted a new standing half-mile record of 219.9mph in the half mile. This impressive result was achieved at the 8,000-foot runway of Ellington Airport, the Houston Half Mile.

The Hennessey Ford GT that established this impressive record was powered by an Accufab Racing V8 engine updated with two Precision Turbochargers for an impressive output of 2000 bhp.

UPDATE 10/29/2012: To add to the Fotd GT1000 Twin Turbo's growing number of records, Hennessey headed back to the famous track at the biannual Texas Mile Festival of Speed organized in Beeville and, with Sean Kennedy behind the wheel, the Ford GT by Hennessey hit an amazing top speed of 263.3 mph! Check out the video by clicking on the image above!

Details on the Ford GT1000 Twin-Turbo by Hennessey after the jump.

2006 Ford GT1000 Twin-Turbo by Hennessey

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2006 Ford GT1000 Twin-Turbo by Hennessey
  • Engine/Motor: 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 engine
  • Horsepower: 1,000 horsepower at 6,600 rpm
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior and Interior

Despite the overwhelming efforts in giving the Ford GT a monstrous improvement in performance output, Hennessey pretty much left the car's aesthetics largely unchanged. Needless to say, the race version of the GT that dominated Le Mans in the 60s shares nothing in common with the production version, despite carrying the same 'GT' moniker.

For one, the production version is 18" longer and 4" taller than the race version. Likewise, the front fenders curve over the 18" front wheels with the doors of the car cutting into the roof as an ode to the set-up of the race version. The production version also comes with a super-plastic-formed aluminum body panels, roll-bonded floor panels, a friction-stir welded center tunnel, a “ship-in-a-bottle” gas tank, a capless fuel filler system, one-piece door panels, and an aluminum engine cover with a one-piece carbon-fiber inner panel. On top of that, you'll find functional cooling scoops on the rear quarter panel while the accent line from the front cowl rejoins and finishes the car’s profile at the integrated ducktail spoiler.

Performance and Supercharged Upgrades

Hennessey's Supercharged Upgrade for the GT1000 Twin Turbo includes, twin 67 mm ball bearing turbos, a stainless steel turbo exhaust, stainless steel turbo down pipes, a billet throttle body upgrade, twin wastegates, a fuel system upgrade, an improved mass air sensor, polished turbo inlet and intake pipes, an HPE Engine Management Calibration, gaskets, fluids, and hardware, road tuning and testing, a special Hennessey GT1000 exterior badging, serial numbered dash and engine plaques, and a 1-year / 12,000-mile limited warranty.

With all the supercharged upgrades in tow, the GT1000 Twin-Turbo's 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 engine now produces 1,000 horsepower at 6,600 rpm with a 0-60 mph time of 2.8 seconds, a quarter-mile time of 10.6 seconds at 142 mph, and an increased top speed of 245 mph.

Pricing

A few years ago, a Ford GT1000 was being sold on eBay for a price of $229,500, which is a significant bump up from the car's base price of $139,500. The $90,000 increase could be attributed to the installation of Hennessey's GT1000 Twin Turbo supercharged upgrade. We think that whoever was selling that probably just needed the money, because if you ask us, this car will sell much, much higher if you wanted to buy one today - probably even north of half-a-million greenbacks.

Competition

The standard Ford GT has an output of 500 horsepower with a 0-60 mph time of three seconds and a top speed of 205 mph, but once you put in Hennessey's supercharged upgrades, the Ford GT1000 reaches the stratosphere of some of the most powerful vehicles on the planet. We don't know about you, but we're chomping our nails at the thought of this 1,000-horsepower GT once again throwing down against Europe's finest supercars, including the Bugatti Veyron->ke1112 and the Koenigsegg Agera R.

We're pretty confident that Henry Ford II would love to see that too.