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G'day All

Retro Daytona Coupe
FYI
copied from carpoint

The stunning Shelby GR-1 concept car is the latest automotive collaboration from Ford and American auto racing legend Carroll Shelby, unveiled last week at the Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance in California.

The two-seater fastback is evidence that Ford's 'supercar architecture' and famous relationship with Shelby are strong, and is anticipated to become the company's latest performance model headed for production.

Ford released a concept version of the GT40 in 2002, which resulted in the production-model 2005 GT supercar. Plans to build a production version of the GR-1 have not been confirmed by Ford, but its latest concept shares the same engineering technology used to develop the GT40 concept and word is that at least one more program could be managed from the GT design.

The GR-1 is equipped with a 7.4-litre V-10 which Ford claims is good for 450kW; as used in the '03 GT Cobra concept car. The GR-1 is the third concept car from Ford's supercar program, which was resurrected in 2002 when Shelby returned to the company after a long-held dispute.

In the 1960s Shelby engineered Ford's greatest moments, running the Ferrari-beating team at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, turning Mustangs into muscle cars and creating the high-performance Cobra.


The latest creations from the supercar program are testimony to the Ford-Shelby co-operation. J Mays, group vice president of design at Ford said: "I see the Ford Shelby GR-1 concept as a gift to Carroll."

Apart from reviving fond memories, Ford has reason to believe its entry into the super performance market is well founded with strong buyer interest upon release of the GT40.