A Message to Modena.(Column)(new Ford GT)(Column)

Byline: rich ceppos

"Not bad for a bunch of guys from Detroit on their first try, eh?'' he asked, knowing the answer. John Coletti swiveled his head and looked over his glasses from the passenger seat. He laughed. I was still catching my breath after a lunge deep into triple-digit speed behind the wheel of the new Ford GT.

Five hundred horsepower parked behind your shoulder blades. A lifetime of speed rushes just waiting to go. I shook my head from side to side in amazement as Coletti looked on with a satisfied smile.

Coletti, head of Ford's SVT Engineering group, auteur of such vehicles as the SVT Focus, Mustang Cobra and F-150 Lightning, had invited me out for an afternoon, just the two of us, to properly introduce me to his new baby. "Let's just go out and drive,'' he'd said. That we did, for about 150 joyous miles on southeastern Michigan roads that varied from cinched-down-tight two-lanes to laser-straight interstate.

This is an important car for Ford-probably even more for the company and its beleaguered employees than for the rest of the world. Sure, we enthusiasts understand its historic significance, its link to the Le Mans winners that beat Ferrari 40 years ago and the statement it aims to make to the rest of the world's carmakers.

But most folks, upon seeing a GT in a Ford dealership or on that rare occasion where one might be basking in a parking lot, will circle it warily, say "huh,'' and go back to whatever they were doing. Most folks buy normal cars and trucks and SUVs. Most don't get it.

Inside car companies it's different. The big ones are vast bureaucracies not unlike the federal government. They require very public, very emphatic leadership-leadership fueled by symbolism. And the ...