Owners of Ford GT Sports Car Thrown a Curve by Recall

So what kind of sports car do you get for $140,000? One with a 550-horsepower engine, classic styling -- and the potential to careen out of control because of a busted part.

Ford Motor Co. confirmed Tuesday that it was recalling all 448 of its much-ballyhooed 2005 GTs, updates of the legendary Le Mans-winning race car, to fix a component in the suspension system.

Ford issued the voluntary recall after discovering a problem in the aluminum suspension’s control arm during a “routine field inspection” this month, said spokeswoman Kristen Kinley.

She declined to name the part’s supplier. Irvine-based exotic car builder Saleen Inc. recently opened a Troy, Mich., factory where it paints and assembles the GT. Saleen executives referred calls to Ford.

“This is a black eye,” said Bill Visnic of trade publication Ward’s AutoWorld.

This year’s rollout of the GT follows other Ford reissues that draw on the company’s storied past -- think Thunderbird and Mustang.

But unlike those mass-produced beasts, the GT is a “halo” vehicle for Ford: a carefully assembled machine designed to enhance the company’s image even though few consumers can ever hope to get one.

Only 111 of the 448 vehicles have been delivered into customers’ hands.

The 2005 GT is a near-identical version of Ford’s high-performance GT40 of the 1960s. The original race car was the first to exceed 200 mph at Le Mans. The reincarnated edition -- complete with a foot-wide racing stripe down the middle -- has been clocked at 205 mph.

Jay Leno, Nicolas Cage and the 109 other GT owners have been told not to drive the car until Ford can repair the defective part. If the control arm were to crack, Kinley said, “it would become a vehicle-handling issue.”

Leno, for one, was untroubled by the news. “It’s not a big deal,” he said. “It’s a great car.”

Besides, Leno said, “it’s not like I don’t have anything else to drive.”