Perhaps most refreshing, the '05's stylists did a masterful job of replicating the front end of the racing GTs while incorporating a bumper structure meeting federal crash standards. Projector-type, high intensity discharge headlamps are faired into the upper leading edges of the fenders, behind clear, aero-flush lenses. Foglamps peer out of mirror-image insets directly beneath at each end of a large intake feeding air to the front brakes and radiators, from which it then exits over the top of the bonnet, helping to minimize front end lift.
Although dimensionally distinct (the '05's roof is four inches higher, for instance), the side view is proportionally faithful to the racing GTs. It's less of a wedge shape than an organic form sculpted in a wind tunnel by air flowing past it at 200+ miles per hour. (Ford certified the GT's top speed at 205 mph during engineering testing in Italy.) Air flowing over the hood presses the front tires onto the pavement. The laid-back windshield and mildly arched roof ease the air over the top of the car to the radically raked backlight between fulsome, rounded rear fenders, which channel it to the wickerbill-tipped rear spoiler minimizing rear-end lift.
The GT leaves in its wake the visual memory of a business-like, function-oriented back end. Large, round taillights are reminders of a trademark of Fords of the Fifties and Sixties. An obvious concession to federal crash standards is the semi-floating rear bumper, although molding the housing for the dual exhausts into its lower edge masks somewhat its tacked-on look. As the original racing GTs reportedly suffered some rather exciting lightness of being at high speeds, Ford's designers stroked and straked the GT's underbody in a quest for downforce, evidence of which can be seen in the venturi-shaped extractor tunnels hugging the ground beneath the rear lower body panel. (They've learned a lot about aerodynamics since the 1960s.)
What look like levers in the front fenders clamping the bonnet to the body in reality aren't, but they are more than decoration. The one on the right-hand side releases the exposed, race car-like fuel filler cap recessed in the top of the fender. The one in the left-hand fender releases the trunk lid, exposing the brake and steering mechanicals and the only-slightly-larger-than-a-glove box cargo space. Both require the ignition key to operate. For the mechanically entranced, the engine resides in full view under the almost-horizontal rear window, along the sides of which can also be seen parts of the all-aluminum space frame.
