A Ford Racing teaser puts the new prototype ahead of its Le Mans-winning ancestors at Silverstone. The car, powered by a 5.4-liter Coyote-based V8, races for the first time in Qatar in March 2027.
Ford will show its new Le Mans Hypercar on Nov 26, 2026. Ford Racing announced the date in a short social video that opens with Ford's past Le Mans winners, cuts to the new prototype at Silverstone, shows it driving past them to the front, and ends on the line "The New Era Begins" (The Supercar Blog). The reveal lines up with earlier reporting that the car's name will be announced at the end of November (Autosport). It is Ford's first serious attempt to win Le Mans outright since its fourth straight victory in 1969.
The video is short and built around history. Older Ford Le Mans cars lead on track at Silverstone before the camouflaged prototype passes them and moves to the front, followed by "The New Era Begins" (The Supercar Blog). The still frame above shows the new car running ahead of a GT40 and later Ford GTs. Ford Racing posted it on Instagram with the caption "See you November 26th" (@fordracing). We haven't found the date in a Ford press release yet.
The engine first ran in the car, with the hybrid system, at ORECA in July (Ford Racing). Before that, Ford ran full simulated laps of the Le Mans circuit on a dyno in Dearborn (FordMuscle).
The car turned its first wheel on Aug 5 at Paul Ricard in France, with systems checks and then full-track running. Ford released the first track photos on Aug 17, with Matt Campbell and Logan Sargeant driving (24h-lemans.com, Autosport). Autosport reports the car covered about 800 miles at Paul Ricard and a similar distance at Portimão in Portugal, followed by two days at Silverstone.
Program manager Dan Sayers told Autosport: "We are hitting all the test milestones." He added that the team is "on a condensed schedule so we have to maximise every second we are on the track" (Autosport).
What comes next, per Autosport: a Monza test later in October with two cars for the first time (chassis 1 and chassis 3, while chassis 2 is in North Carolina for wind tunnel work), a first endurance run at Aragón in November, then running at Austin and Sebring, and another endurance test at Sebring early in 2027. RACER's Oct 12 report also covers the move to endurance testing and a second car (RACER).
Ford confirmed the engine in January at its season launch in Detroit. It is a naturally aspirated 5.4-liter V8 that shares its architecture with the Mustang GT3 engine (RACER). Autosport describes it as the first bespoke race engine developed and built in-house by Ford at its Dearborn headquarters. Sayers said at the launch: "When you hear a Ford coming down the Mulsanne Straight at three in the morning, you shouldn't have to look at the badge to know who it is. That is why we chose the Coyote" (RACER).
Ford Racing engineer Hertrich told Road & Track the valvetrain changes are large, and that the engine has to rev well above the 8,250 rpm the GT3 engine is homologated at, without giving a number. The Supercar Blog and FordMuscle both say it should rev to around 9,000 rpm; Ford hasn't confirmed that figure. Road & Track estimates Ford is aiming for roughly 740 to 750 horsepower at the crank, which is the outlet's estimate from the class rules, not a Ford number. Nearly every rival uses a turbocharged engine, so a big naturally aspirated V8 will stand out on the grid.
Ford won Le Mans outright four years in a row from 1966 to 1969. The first win came in 1966 with Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren in a Shelby American GT40 Mk II, and the last in 1969 with Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver in a Gulf GT40 (Autosport, 24h-lemans.com).
Fifty years after the first win, the modern Ford GT won the GTE Pro class at Le Mans in 2016, on its debut. Ford Racing global director Mark Rushbrook told Autosport that the GT's success "re-whetted" the appetite of the Ford family and company leadership for the top class, and that Ford looked at a top-class return as the GT program wound down but held off because the rules were unclear. Ford returned to Le Mans in 2024 with the Mustang GT3 and announced the Hypercar program in January 2025 (Autosport).
Rushbrook is clear about the odds: "Are we trying to win in 2027? Absolutely, but we recognise what a massive challenge it will be" (Autosport).
Ford GT sold results we follow show a clear gap between the two road-car generations. The 2005–06 Gen 1 cars have a median sold price of $547,500 across 114 sales. The 2017–22 Gen 2 cars have a median of $891,000 across 43 sales. See the Gen 1 and Gen 2 price pages, or the side-by-side comparison, for every sale.
Ford has tied this car tightly to its Le Mans past, and the teaser makes the point by literally putting the new prototype in front of a GT40 and later GTs. Both Ford GT generations exist because of Le Mans: the Gen 1 as a tribute to the GT40, the Gen 2 as the road version of the 2016 class winner.
What it means for buyers: a top-class Le Mans program puts the Ford GT story back in front of a wide audience, and a strong showing in 2027 would add to that. That is a reason for interest, not a forecast. There's no sign yet of a price effect, and none should be expected before the car races. The more likely effect, if any, is on the best-documented cars, especially Gen 2 cars and heritage liveries that echo Ford's Le Mans winners. Watch sold results around the Nov 26 reveal and the June 2027 race.
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