Ford won’t bother taking on the Chevrolet Corvette

Ford has been spied testing the latest Corvette Stingray and Z06 recently, but it has poured cold water on the idea it’s considering developing a rival for the mid-engined Chevrolet supercar.

Speaking at the Blue Oval’s latest investor briefing, chairman Bill Ford Jr said the Mustang was all the sports car Ford needs.

“Why are you not building a sports car similar to Corvette?” Ford Jr. said, as reported by Ford Authority.

The Corvette……and why Ford won’t be taking it on

“Are you kidding? We have the Mustang, which I think is by far the best sports car in America and frankly, the world now. It’s affordable. It’s faster than all get out. And it’s about as good as you could possibly get,” he said.

“And we’re going racing with Mustang. For the enthusiasts, we have an EcoBoost Mustang, we now have an electric Mustang in the Mach-E, and we have our all-new five-litre Mustang Dark Horse, which we just introduced.

“And we have more coming. So, I wouldn’t trade our sports car for anybody else’s, let’s put it that way.”

Last Ford Thunderbird

Previous reports have suggested the Thunderbird could be brought back as an indirect rival to the Chevrolet Corvette, albeit without a mid-engine layout.

With production of the GT ending, the Thunderbird would in theory have served as a new halo model for the brand.

Ford has already filed a trademark for the Thunderbird name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the company has said it’s open to reviving more famous nameplates from its past.

It’s already done so over the past couple of years, dusting off the Puma, Bronco and Maverick nameplates.

Ford has previously delved deeper into the world of supercars than its big American rivals with the GT.

The first-generation GT road car was an homage to the legendary GT40, and had a top speed of 330km/h thanks to its supercharged V8 engine.

The last hurrah for the latest GT

The second-generation car subbed the V8 for a turbocharged, motorsports-inspired V6.

Assembled by Canadian race specialists Multimatic, it was tightly linked with the LM GTE racer that won its class at Le Mans in 2016.