Would you believe it if someone told you that the fastest car on the planet is a Ford? That may seem an outlandish concept, but if you look at Ford’s racing heritage, you might begin to think this is absolutely possible. The Ford GT badge carries a lot of history. And one particular 2006 Ford GT model just added more accolades to that history. It has a proud owner and a name, and it's been improved upon several times throughout its life. Meet Johnny Bohmer’s 2006 Ford “BADD GT”.

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These Guys Did The Impossible

The team around the 2006 Ford GT “BADD GT” before its run to 310.8 MPH (500.1 KM_H) 0-2 screenshot
Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds

About two weeks ago, on December 9th, Johnny Bohmer did a run at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with his Gas Monkey Garage-sponsored 2006 Ford GT. And boy what a run it was. The heavily modified, yet street legal, with a valid registration and insurance, 2006 GT reached a staggering 310.8 MPH. It appears like it could go faster too if it only had a little more runway.

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A Little Foreboding

While gathering data and testing a new ECU and Race pack, Bohmer felt the car was performing so well that he decided to stay on the throttle through the last gear. The result blew his team away. And what’s amazing to realize is that they feel they’re just now starting to test the limits of this car. Bohmer himself said that at its current configuration, they can easily add another 500 to 700 horsepower to really kick it into high gear and reach an even higher top speed.

Just think of the possibilities. It is already the fastest street-legal car ever in a standing mile. This car is so versatile that they’ve managed to put in around 2700 horsepower on its twin-turbocharged V-8 without, well, literally exploding the engine. That is a lot of ponies added on top of the stock 550 horsepower of the GT. And make no mistake about it. Johnny Bohmer uses this car as a daily driver, despite it being a rocket ship on wheels.

A shot from inside the cockpit of the 2006 Ford GT "BADD GT"
Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds

Gas Monkey Garage, the shop that has been sponsoring and working together with Bohmer is excited about the possibilities of this car. They hope to do more runs and set records that will last for years. We should expect to see a new run soon. Let’s hope they succeed and be safe. The automotive world is tuned in to this amazing accomplishment and cheering for more. And by the looks of it, we’ll be blown away again pretty soon.

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Rich Racing Pedigree

GT40s-entered-in-1964-24-Hours-of-Le-Mans
Ford

The Ford GT40 made history and cemented itself in the hall of legendary sports cars. A lot of car enthusiasts have seen the movie Ford vs Ferrari and know its history well. If you haven’t, here’s a quick rundown of how this marvel came to be and what it meant for the U.S. and Ford. Without spoiling the movie, of course.

​​​​​​The OG Ford GT40 was commissioned in the early 60s by the Ford Motor Company. Its purpose was to win the 24-hour Le Mans race against Ferrari. GT stands for Grand Touring and the project stems from a strong desire from Ford to become a player in performance motorsports.

Henry Ford II's initial strategy was to buy the upstart Ferrari clean off. But old Enzo rejected the deal as he would have to give up his autonomy over his brand and sent the boys from Ford back home empty-handed. From this point on, legend says Henry Ford II told Donald Frey to “go to Le Mans, and beat his ass”.

And action shot of the 1965 GT 40 mk2 racing at Le Mans
Ford

​Don Frey rose from product manager to vice president and chief engineer at Ford. He recruited the help of Roy Lunn who was then running the Advanced Vehicle Department at Ford. They both presented a confidential competition program to Ford’s executives. This program encompassed a mid-engine race car called the GT40. You already know what the GT stands for, the 40 was due to its low height of 40 inches.

Lunn was originally British and worked with Aston Martin in their late 1940s Le Mans efforts. He went back to the old country and ended up at the door of British car manufacturer Lola Cars. Lola had built a racing car named Mk6 GT with a mid-mounted 289 cubic-inch (4.75 liters) Ford V-8 Engine. The Mk6 had an aluminum body to reduce weight and was basically a prototype GT40. Only three Mk6 GT were ever produced. Lunn bought two and went back to the Ford Advanced Vehicles HQ in Slough to get to work.

To make a long story short, after a series of mishappenings, the job of producing a winning GT40 was handed over to Carroll Shelby. The MkII GT40 went on to win Daytona in 1965 and 1966. And then later the same year came the win at Le Mans with three Ford GT40s finishing in first, second, and third place. The winning streak of the MkII GT40 went on until 1969.

Ford brought back the GT of course to celebrate its centenary, but crucially; the latest second-gen GT as well has been a dominant force at Le Mans since its introduction in 2006.