Ford Shelby Gets Extreme Makeover By Alisa Priddle WardsAuto.com, Jan 20 2005 Ford product chief Phil Martens is pleased with the all-new skin of the Ford Shelby GR-1 concept. DETROIT – The Ford Shelby GR-1 concept supercar has had a complete makeover, to the unabashed approval of product chief Phil Martens. Martens, Ford Motor Co. group vice president-product creation, was not satisfied with the original concept, the Ford Shelby Cobra, that was unveiled a year ago at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Martens advocated putting the Cobra concept into production, but only with a styling change to inject more emotion. (See related story: Martens: Shelby Cobra ‘Has my Vote’) The Cobra was the final player in a “Performance Trio” that includes the Ford GT and the all-new Mustang. The fully engineered Cobra concept unveiled in 2004, developed with the aid of long-time engineering partner Carroll Shelby from the aluminum chassis of the Ford GT, was codenamed Daisy. The newest incarnation, the Shelby GR-1, has undergone an extreme makeover. “It’s a completely different vehicle,” Martens says of the muscular 2-seater fully engineered prototype. “When you look at it now, it’s a very provocative, almost sensual vehicle. It gives the feeling, as it’s sitting there, that it’s moving.” The overall length is about the same as a Mazda Miata, with proportions Martens describes as “outstanding,” creating a gotta-have vehicle. “It has that emotional cache that last year we didn’t have,” he says. The underpinnings were carried over. Both the Cobra and GR-1 are front-engine, rear-drive vehicles with a naturally aspirated (no superchargers or turbochargers) aluminum-block 6.4L V-10 that puts out 605 hp and 501 lb.-ft (679 Nm) of torque. Track testing proves them capable of 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in less than four seconds. “It’s the same underpinnings but different skin,” Martens says of the hand-polished – and extremely shiny – aluminum fastback coupe with butterfly doors. apriddle@primediabusiness.com http://wardsauto.com/ar/auto_ford_shelby_gets/index.htm © 2005, Primedia Business Magazines and Media, a PRIMEDIA company. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, redisseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of PRIMEDIA Business Corp.
