Sixty years ago, Ford finished first, second and third at 24 Hours of Le Mans in cars that have since become some of the most recognisable and coveted racing machines in history. South African specialists Cape Advanced Vehicles (CAV) have spent the past 25 of those years building vehicles inspired by the GT40, delivering nearly 250 to clients around the world from its Cape Town workshop.
The GT MkII, unveiled last week, is what two and a half decades of accumulated GT40 knowledge looks like when a company decides to stop making tributes and make something entirely its own.
While timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Ford’s historic 1-2-3 finish, the GT MkII is not a replica. It uses the GT40’s unmistakable silhouette as a starting point and then applies modern engineering, materials and manufacturing to produce something that can actually be used, not just admired.
It’s the kind of supercar that has power steering, airbags, swan-wing doors, a spare parts support programme and enough luggage space to be useful, alongside active aerodynamics, all-wheel drive and Brembo eight-piston brakes with optional carbon-ceramic discs. It’s a combination that the genre does not often offer, and it reflects the particular advantage of a company that has been living with this shape long enough to understand where the compromises used to be.
The structure is a carbon-fibre and aluminium monocoque, giving the GT MkII a kerb weight of 1,350kg. The bodywork is carbon-fibre throughout, carrying massive air intakes, circular taillights and a dual-layer active Gurney spoiler that deploys at speed. While the proportions are immediately recognisable to anyone who knows the original, the execution is thoroughly contemporary.
Under the bodywork, the headline specification is a 4.2l V8 with twin superchargers producing near 600kW and 880Nm, sent to all four wheels through a six-speed semi-automatic transmission. For buyers with different preferences, naturally aspirated V8 and twin-turbo V10 alternatives are available, as are manual and dual-clutch transmission options. Independent suspension at all four corners is managed by three-way adjustable KW dampers.
Production will run at 10 cars a year, which keeps the GT MkII in exclusive territory without tipping into the kind of scarcity that renders a vehicle purely theoretical for most buyers.
Alongside the standard production car, CAV is offering a 60th Anniversary Limited Edition, restricted to 40 units, with precious metal finishes, tailored interior treatments and a selection of liveries that include Miles Blue Metallic and Carroll Black Metallic, both named in reference to the people and moments that shaped the GT40’s history. Each of the 40 will be built to its owner’s specification.
“The moment deserved a fitting tribute: a modern interpretation of the MkII GT40 that captures the spirit of the original while delivering the refinement, usability, and performance expected of a contemporary supercar,” says Jordi Reddy, CAV’s director and product architect.
It’s a measured way of describing something that is anything but modest. Near 600kW from a twin-supercharged V8 in a 1,350kg car with all-wheel drive and Brembo eight-piston brakes is a combination that demands to be taken seriously regardless of who built it.
The fact that it was built in Cape Town, by a company most of the global supercar market has never heard of, is either the most interesting thing about the GT MkII or simply one of several. CAV’s argument is that 25 years of building one specific car, at boutique volumes, with genuine craft and no shortcut to scale, produces a quality of knowledge that the conventional supercar industry cannot replicate. The GT MkII is the evidence for that argument. Whether the market agrees will become apparent at 10 cars a year.
Wanted
