Street-Legal Ford GT1 Returns with 1,200 Horsepower And A Manual

Lynx Motors and Graham Rahal Performance are cooking up something wild for car enthusiasts—a street-legal version of the Ford Matech Concepts GT1 Le Mans race car.

Matech Concepts, the original builder of the GT1, shut down a while back, and Lynx stepped in to scoop up the rights and parts. Now, they are revitalizing the first-generation chassis, transforming them into a stunning road-going hypercar.

Lynx has teased a more aggressive, wide-body design with a full carbon fiber shell and plenty of race-inspired aero upgrades. Expect a bold front splitter, canards, and a massive rear wing. Inside, there’s not much confirmed yet, but an early rendering shows a revamped cockpit featuring a sporty new steering wheel, carbon fiber accents, two-tone seats, and even a wireless phone charger. Still hardcore, but with a touch of daily-driver comfort.

It is expected to deliver exceptional performance. Only 28 units will be built in Zionsville, Indiana, by Graham Rahal Performance, each packing a Ricardo six-speed manual gearbox and a supercharged V8 cranking out over 1,200 horsepower. That’s serious power with old-school driver engagement—no paddle shifters here.

Interestingly, Lynx’s site also hints at other versions—the Gulf and Eau Rouge—which seem to be part of an earlier vision. The Gulf was meant to use a twin-turbo V8 making over 1,200 hp, while two Gulf track-only models were slated to use Roush engines producing up to 1,500 hp. The Eau Rouge was supposedly even more extreme, with around 1,400 hp on tap.