RE: Ford GTX1

Monday 18th September 2006

Ford GTX1

Rod Fountain explores the edges of the open-top Ford GTX1's envelope


Ford GTX1
Ford GTX1

Lust at first sight, love at first drive. That’s the only way that I can describe my experience with the new Ford GT. Last year I drove a thousand miles through France in this breathtaking supercar, and if I had died at the end of the journey, I would have died a happy man, sporting a stupid grin. The Ford development team might as well have packed and gone home, perfection had been achieved.

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The Ford development team did pack up, they didn’t go home, but instead turned their attention to the Shelby GT500, a high performance Mustang. Fortunately for us, one engineer and designer from Ford SVT (Special Vehicle Team), Kip Ewing, had a vision of creating an open-top version of the GT and after getting approval from the SVT director, Hau Thai Tang, the Ford GTX1 was born.

Hacksaw job

Mark Gerisch, of the Genaddi Design Group, was approached to carry out the work involved in taking the hacksaw to this iconic car's roof line. To top it off they also developed a few aftermarket modifications to complete the drop-top look. All together they offer an amazing $140,000’s worth of modifications. The most notable include the roof conversion, lowered suspension, and a power upgrade, but more on that later.

Most post-production roof cutting exercises end up in, at best, a hopeless array of panels lying in the garage at home and require all the mental dexterity of a chess genius to fit them. Not to mention the scuttle shake that results from the lack of torsional rigidity from removing the roof. No so here.

A simple three-panel system with rear catches offers either the T-Bar, twin side pop up panel and, for full posing prowess, the full convertible look. All are interchangeable in seconds and the panels store away conveniently behind the front seats in their own padded bags. Look over your shoulder and you can now see two plexi-glass panels on top of the engine cover which afford a satisfying view of the supercharger. And, thanks to some clever chassis work and the car's inherent strength, there’s absolutely no shake rattle 'n' roll. All up this will set you back a mortgage-extending $38,000.

Seven hundred brake horsepower

Now here’s the juicy bit. This version of the GTX1 was running a whopping 700bhp. That’s in a road-going, mid-engine, rear wheel drive, GT car with absolutely no electronic trickery to keep you from joining the (very fast approaching) scenery, backwards. That’s 40 HP more than a Ferrari Enzo. Lowered, front and rear by 32mm and 25mm, sitting on 19- and 20-inch custom rims, sporting a free-flow, cat back Borla exhaust and a short throw shifter, the GTX1 is surely the new must have LA Boulevard cruiser.

The power increase is achieved using a smaller charger pulley, re-mapped ECU taking into account the increased air intake, fuel flow and modified timings. A modified air corrector and electronic diffuser ensure that the otherwise standard 5.4-litre, aluminium block gets sufficient air and fuel into all 8 cylinders. Engineers estimate that this standard block could potentially run 800bhp but, for reliability and longevity, a 125HP upgrade pack is offered to customers -- it's a snip at $8,500. You’ll also be glad to know that none of this work would, theoretically, invalidate any Ford warranty. Phew, you can relax!

Adrenalin-inducing

On the track the moment you push the start button a surge of adrenalin accompanies the orchestral roar from the pipes behind and you’re reminded that this is no standard GT. The muted, standard exhaust is now more of a burbling gargle with undertones of thunder. It’s hard to suppress the urge to just nail it and gun towards the horizon into oblivion. And it gets to oblivion rather briskly; 60mph is up in 3.3 seconds, usually in a small cloud of expensive smoke while the driver furiously feathers the throttle in search of traction. Triple figures are up in the sevens, soon 150’s up and the acceleration still feels nothing short of time distorting as the cars want to push on to its 210-plus mph top speed. It’s a total sensory overload; every sense being in a constant state of catch-up.

Turn in and the steering feels sharper than standard, but never twitchy. Exit a corner at speed and you feel buckets-loads of mechanical grip as the Pirelli P-Zero rubber earns its keep. Feed the power in gently the handling feels surprisingly fluid for a relatively heavy GT car. Entering a corner too fast and turning in too late will result in the front end pushing wide, but you can correct easily by easing off the gas or by planting the throttle and applying a lot of opposite lock -- quickly. Overcook it though and you’ll be spinning in a grey haze of tyre smoke, much as the standard GT.

The best trick is that this über-GT is just as easy to drive as the factory GT. A light clutch, power steering and good seat support makes it all about as straightforward to drive as a VW Golf, albeit with very restricted forward vision…and considerably more power.

Outdragging an Enzo

So, the perfect everyday supercar just got better. It can out drag an Enzo in a straight line, and let you pose with the top down while still being a daily driver, and all for around £120,000 all-up.

And that, in supercar terms, is the bargain of the century. Where do I sign?

Words and pictures (c) Rod Fountain 2006

Author
Discussion

dinkel

Original Poster:

26,865 posts

257 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
Errr, wow and wow. I thought this one stayed into proto-stage . . . happy to see it's not.

Love yer pics. Wonder what this beastie'll do on track side to side with a big bad red Enzo.

I'm a bit worried 'bout the Golf bit thoug . . . Only joking now are ya?

erijaso

505 posts

254 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
Wonder if Clarkson's gonna let the stig take it for a spin.

mark smith

164 posts

218 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
Ford have really got it right with this one!! The GT hardtop takes some beating, but this definitely is the dogs wotsits!! I wish I had the dosh to buy one.

burba

1,868 posts

256 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
that is unbelievable! yum

abarthchris

2,259 posts

214 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
that is an awesome machine!

how low does it look in this pic?!?!

von stig

841 posts

212 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
would never relay buy either a ford or a drop top but in this case driving bounce

GTRene

16,314 posts

223 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
very nice pictures Rod yum
GTRene

lemuff

13 posts

214 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
I saw some pictures of this a few weeks ago on car dealership site (www.thecarfinders.co.uk). It looks sooooo nice. Spoke to a guy at the car finders and he Clarkson was drivin it a while ago for a dvd. So hopefully we will see it on top gear in the hands of the stig.

Love It

R988

7,495 posts

228 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
If I saw those wheels by themselves in a catalouge or something I would say they look crap, but they look seriously nice on this, low cars just look so damn cool (to hell with practicality cool)

canam

9,094 posts

271 months

Monday 18th September 2006
quotequote all
For the benefit of our younger readers, this car celebrates the Ford X1 which was an open topped lightweight chassis development by McLaren (Bruce McLaren that is, not the current lot) of the 7-litre Ford GT, used in Group 7 races in North America in 1965 (the forerunner of the 1966 Can-Am Series.
The car itself was later rebodied as a GT40 MkII Roadster which then won the 1966 Sebring 12 hours. The track was so rough and the car so light that it was allegedly unusable afterwards and was cut up for scrap and the bits buried.

costanzo427

192 posts

213 months

Tuesday 19th September 2006
quotequote all
absolutely stunning. I have seen several GT's in the flesh at my dad's work ( a ford dealer) and I was stunned at first site, by the regular coupes alone. I saw the X1 in the car mags and thought "they'd never build one...", and I am reeeeeeeally suprised ford is. So, I am praying that I'll get to see one of these, because frankly, this car is cripplingly beautiful/agressive looking/awesome/etc.



some dreams DO come true. (I had to throw in a cliche.)

kingb

1,151 posts

225 months

Tuesday 19th September 2006
quotequote all
that is truely a bargin

lap_time

339 posts

226 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
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clap Good on Ford for having the balls to make this into a reality! Let's just hope other manufacturers follow this example and actually BUILD their concepts!!! (btw I LURVE this car cloud9)

Mr_C

2,441 posts

228 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
dear santa, as I've been really good this year, please can I have one of these. It would make me very happy.
From Paul, age 23 and a half.


Edited by Mr_C on Wednesday 20th September 15:22

Dr S

4,991 posts

225 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
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The GT is the only yank car I like and in this version even more so. Hell it's great...cloud9

minipower

894 posts

218 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
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Would I take it over a Gallardo spider?






Hell yeah. Just look at it, plus it has the sound to go with it as well.

Mr_C

2,441 posts

228 months

Thursday 21st September 2006
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I keep having to come back to this article to have a look at this pic....

dinkel

Original Poster:

26,865 posts

257 months

Thursday 21st September 2006
quotequote all
Dr S said:
The GT is the only yank car I like . . .


Is it a Yank car?

I always thought the GT40 with it's British origins is a UK car, just like the T70 and the AC Cobra.

A Yank mill doesn't make it a Yank car, like Iso Grifo's, Bizzi's and Intermechanica's . . . DeTomaso's.

jellison

12,803 posts

276 months

Tuesday 26th September 2006
quotequote all
Sweet - could do with a bit more power though!








































http://videos.streetfire.net/video/17

dinkel

Original Poster:

26,865 posts

257 months

Wednesday 27th September 2006
quotequote all
Utter bull, all that power wouldn't make it a driveable car.