The word ‘icon’ is used way too much about cars. But there’s a select few for which it seems appropriate.

In the case of the Ford GT40, it might even seem a little understated.

The GT40 represent so much in Ford’s history, it’s actually quite hard to find a word for it that doesn’t stray into the realms of blasphemy. Who did the Beatles and Oasis say they were bigger than? Well, in Ford circles the GT40 is bigger than the Beatles and Oasis. Put together.

So it was inevitable that Ford would do something to mark the 50th anniversary of the GT40’s arrival on the racetracks of the world. But few people could foresee what.

When the all-new GT was unveiled at the 2015 Detroit show, jaws dropped. The story goes that even some senior Ford execs knew nothing about it.

That’s because it was developed in total secrecy. Total and, unusually for the car industry, totally successful.

For two years, a small team created the car in a secret workshop in the basement of Ford’s Michigan R&D base, often working by night to avoid awkward questions. It almost sounds comically cloak-and-dagger – down four flights of stairs, along a forgotten-about corridor, through a door that would open only for the key hung round the boss’ neck.

Why all the secrecy? Because this car is taking Ford back to Le Mans. And the blue oval wants to pull off the same trick the original GT40 played so memorably in the mid-60s – by showing Ferrari a clean pair of heels.

Later this year, the GT will spawn a road car, and at £280,000 it clearly wants to take on the Ferraris of this world there too. But its designers are adamant that this required no compromises to be made.

‘Le Mans is a fuel economy race now,’ says chief engineer Jamal Hameedi. ’So efficiency is a key criteria. You can’t beat the V6 for that, and you can make the homologated 500bhp output in the rules easily and also be extremely fuel efficient.’

Hence the use of a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6. But the team’s main aim was to house it in a body whose aerodynamics and low weight would give it the greatest possible advantage on road and track alike.

Three designs were modelled and tested before the most aerodynamic was chosen. A glance may suggest that Ford’s styling was deliberately retro, and the visual signatures are clearly there, but its carbon fibre body is all about cutting through the air of La Sarthe.

If it also opens a few wallets along the way, so much the better.