Given that the new GT has a 3.5-litre, twin turbo EcoBoost V6 rated for 482kW and 745Nm, and is largely made of lightweight carbon fibre, giving it a dry weight of only 1385kg and a top speed close to 350km/h, you’d expect the result to be impressive.
Well, apparently Clarkson is really impressed, even though it doesn’t have a V8, like its predecessor, as the little berlinetta pounds through the seven speed paddle-shift transmission almost as quickly as a litre-class superbike.
Ever the traditionalist, Clarkson praises the lack electronic trickery, revelling in the authentically raucous soundtrack of the hard-revving V6. Somehow, we think anybody old enough to remember the three-litre V6 Essex-engined Cortina, Sierra and Sapphire models of the 1980s will agree.