Ford has dumped tons of cash into the Shelby GT500 project, and in turn rumors have been rampant about them dropping other special editions such as Bullet, Mach, etc.....
Back in 1984, Ford got some of the biggest gearheads together along with some highly paid turbocharger experts, and developed the SVO by (also) dumping millions into it. Which coincidentally ended up being a hodgepodge mix of Factory and Aftermarket parts.
What if Ford went out and hired a few amature (yet talented) people to develop a new specialty Mustang based on mostly stock Ford parts from the entire world parts bin. I think if they did this and gave them the stipulation that;
A. The vehicle would need to be production feasible 100%
B. The vehicle would be shown as a show car only if it was too radical or if public reaction was low, and nothing done with it.
I think as long as they found the right people, they would have a low budget hit.
Instead of doing the typical deal of dumping tons of cash into a project that was thought up by one person and approved by countless people, let some real world people develop a real specialty stang.
Of course I had to add this part, but here are a couple of examples of what I would do.
A new SVO
First, I would fit the largest rotors in the parts bin, and Aftermarket 6 piston front and 4 piston rear aliuminum calipers. Then I would set those off with 18 inch Magnesium wheels. This would be in addition to the new Koni Dual mode shocks and struts (OE on Gallardo).
Then I would call up FPV and get their 300 hp turbo inline six, and tune it to a little more and mate it to a tremec 6 speed. Would also add a FMIC.
Then I would get the car before sound deadening, and put one thin layer of insulation under the carpet, with non power aftermarket racing seats and move the (hurst) shifter to the left and the handbrake to the right. The seats and doors would have matching center sections (synthetic suede or something)
Finally I would use fiberglass to replace the hood front fenders and trunklid. Actually I could source Carbon parts for a little more but from China and I am not sure how that would fly.
So, there it is, a lighter tighter more aural turbo mustang that possibly might cost about the same as a GT with a few options. As long as the engine is built to handle it, it could be a boost controller away from 400-450 hp.
A BOSS V10
This one is a bit more complicated, and would have Shelby involved to make it ok that it is more powerful than the GT500.
Take the Modular Triton V10 block and bare heads, dumping everything else.
Put in a Billet crank & cams and forged pistons and rods. I would send the engine to cosworth and have them develop the parts to make it rev to about 7500 and make 550 hp, complete with a individual throttle body intake. Of course the same tremec 6 speed as the SVO.
Then I would use a revised IRS from a different model with beefed up axles and diff. Again the suspension would be upgraded shocks springs, etc.
To lighten the car, I would use magnesium extrusions to replace the front radiaor support door reinforcements etc, and the entire body would be carbon fiber except the top half of the rear fenders (and obviously bumpers).
The fenders would be just a hair wider than the 05 show cars, there would be no rear wing, just a diffuser under the rear and a smoothed belly pan. The interior would be spartan with a 4 speaker stereo system and bare carbon panels on dash, doors and center console.
This of course would probably need to sell for about 100k or more, but if they looked at it more as a Z06 competitor, it could be done for less. Not sure how many would sell but it would be sweet. If it were to sell for about 15k over the Shelby, it would sell pretty well.
Before you start into me about the cost of developing these things, I actually work in the industry and know how much Cosworth charges for such things, and how much it costs to develop it in house as opposed to sourcing it from vendors. If I had the capital to do it myself as a limited run of specialty cars (like shelby's own GT and V6 versions) and had deposits (not to use towards costs but to show parts makers it will sell), I could develop both for under 1.5million combined including all costs except EPA certification, which may be able to be bipassed with a low production waiver.
Considering Ford spent more than that on developing the IRS for the current car (think about that for a minute) I think it would be more wise for them to do it more like this than the traditional way, like when they spent tens of millions building and equiping the "Ford GT" facility only to produce it for a couple of years and have no successor.
Any thoughts? i know some of you will comment on how they can not just hire a bunch of amatures and let them loose, or how they can't do something else I stated..... I can't convince everyone of everything, so I'm not game for an argument. but it's fine if you need to tell me I am wrong or dumb.
Otherwise tell me what you think or what you would do.
Back in 1984, Ford got some of the biggest gearheads together along with some highly paid turbocharger experts, and developed the SVO by (also) dumping millions into it. Which coincidentally ended up being a hodgepodge mix of Factory and Aftermarket parts.
What if Ford went out and hired a few amature (yet talented) people to develop a new specialty Mustang based on mostly stock Ford parts from the entire world parts bin. I think if they did this and gave them the stipulation that;
A. The vehicle would need to be production feasible 100%
B. The vehicle would be shown as a show car only if it was too radical or if public reaction was low, and nothing done with it.
I think as long as they found the right people, they would have a low budget hit.
Instead of doing the typical deal of dumping tons of cash into a project that was thought up by one person and approved by countless people, let some real world people develop a real specialty stang.
Of course I had to add this part, but here are a couple of examples of what I would do.
A new SVO
First, I would fit the largest rotors in the parts bin, and Aftermarket 6 piston front and 4 piston rear aliuminum calipers. Then I would set those off with 18 inch Magnesium wheels. This would be in addition to the new Koni Dual mode shocks and struts (OE on Gallardo).
Then I would call up FPV and get their 300 hp turbo inline six, and tune it to a little more and mate it to a tremec 6 speed. Would also add a FMIC.
Then I would get the car before sound deadening, and put one thin layer of insulation under the carpet, with non power aftermarket racing seats and move the (hurst) shifter to the left and the handbrake to the right. The seats and doors would have matching center sections (synthetic suede or something)
Finally I would use fiberglass to replace the hood front fenders and trunklid. Actually I could source Carbon parts for a little more but from China and I am not sure how that would fly.
So, there it is, a lighter tighter more aural turbo mustang that possibly might cost about the same as a GT with a few options. As long as the engine is built to handle it, it could be a boost controller away from 400-450 hp.
A BOSS V10
This one is a bit more complicated, and would have Shelby involved to make it ok that it is more powerful than the GT500.
Take the Modular Triton V10 block and bare heads, dumping everything else.
Put in a Billet crank & cams and forged pistons and rods. I would send the engine to cosworth and have them develop the parts to make it rev to about 7500 and make 550 hp, complete with a individual throttle body intake. Of course the same tremec 6 speed as the SVO.
Then I would use a revised IRS from a different model with beefed up axles and diff. Again the suspension would be upgraded shocks springs, etc.
To lighten the car, I would use magnesium extrusions to replace the front radiaor support door reinforcements etc, and the entire body would be carbon fiber except the top half of the rear fenders (and obviously bumpers).
The fenders would be just a hair wider than the 05 show cars, there would be no rear wing, just a diffuser under the rear and a smoothed belly pan. The interior would be spartan with a 4 speaker stereo system and bare carbon panels on dash, doors and center console.
This of course would probably need to sell for about 100k or more, but if they looked at it more as a Z06 competitor, it could be done for less. Not sure how many would sell but it would be sweet. If it were to sell for about 15k over the Shelby, it would sell pretty well.
Before you start into me about the cost of developing these things, I actually work in the industry and know how much Cosworth charges for such things, and how much it costs to develop it in house as opposed to sourcing it from vendors. If I had the capital to do it myself as a limited run of specialty cars (like shelby's own GT and V6 versions) and had deposits (not to use towards costs but to show parts makers it will sell), I could develop both for under 1.5million combined including all costs except EPA certification, which may be able to be bipassed with a low production waiver.
Considering Ford spent more than that on developing the IRS for the current car (think about that for a minute) I think it would be more wise for them to do it more like this than the traditional way, like when they spent tens of millions building and equiping the "Ford GT" facility only to produce it for a couple of years and have no successor.
Any thoughts? i know some of you will comment on how they can not just hire a bunch of amatures and let them loose, or how they can't do something else I stated..... I can't convince everyone of everything, so I'm not game for an argument. but it's fine if you need to tell me I am wrong or dumb.
Otherwise tell me what you think or what you would do.
haha but they do exist. saw one just today
