How the Ford Shelby GR-1 Works
It was 1962 when former race car driver Carroll Shelby first dropped an American Ford V8 engine into a lightweight European car, creating the first Shelby Cobra. More than 40 years later, Shelby and Ford have joined forces once again to create the Ford Shelby GR-1.
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Based on the chassis and suspension of the production Ford GT, the GR-1 (Group Racing 1) is a visual throwback to the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, but it packs a modern punch with more than 600 horsepower.
In this article, we'll look beneath the GR-1's gleaming aluminum body, learn why Carroll Shelby makes some of the best cars in the world and find out if Ford could actually make a production GR-1 available to the public.
A Nod to the Past
In 2004, Ford unveiled the
Ford Shelby Cobra concept car, a futuristic, minimalist
roadster that followed the Shelby formula -- put a big engine
in a small, lightweight car. A year later, Ford unveiled the
Shelby GR-1.
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A distinctive aluminum body covers the GR-1's smooth, aggressive shape. The design is very reminiscent of the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, a car Shelby designed as a faster, more aerodynamic version of his already successful Cobra roadsters.
Ford was able to create a working prototype of the GR-1 in a short amount of time because it is based on the chassis of the Ford GT. The suspension, steering and braking systems also come straight from the GT. In fact, it took only six months from the initial design sketch to the unveiling of a mockup with a fiberglass body, and it was just a few more months until they had a fully operational prototype. That commonality of parts also means there's a decent chance the GR-1 could become a production model.
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Next, we'll see how the GR-1 was designed and created.
Under the Hood
The GR-1 has much more than
nostalgia and a pretty face going for it. An aluminum-block,
6.4-liter V10 engine is under the hood, cranking out 605
horsepower at 6,750 rpm and 501 lb-ft of torque at
5,500 rpm. That's enough power to hit 60 mph in under four
seconds. Plus, the GR-1 accomplishes all this without
turbocharging or supercharging.
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The engine isn't mounted behind the driver's head the way it is in many high-performance cars. This is a more traditional front-engine design, created in part to fit the designer's idea for the car's shape. The transmission, a six-speed transaxle, is mounted in the rear to provide better weight distribution. This is another piece lifted directly from the GT.
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The GR-1 also features a limited-slip differential and rear-wheel drive. An electronic limiter keeps the vehicle's top speed well under 200 mph -- a speed it could easily top if left unrestrained.
Specifications
Interior Design
Climbing into the GR-1
through the forward-and-upward swinging butterfly
doors, the interior reveals a race-ready design.
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The seats are carbon shells equipped with racing-style harnesses. All the instruments in the panel behind the steering wheel are analogue, a sign of the GR-1's 1960s heritage.
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A digital speedometer reveals the car's modern pedigree, however, and a closer look shows there is plenty of gadgetry in the dash. The stereo can play MP3s and can record and playback, ostensibly so drivers can record notes about the track while they take practice laps. Noise-dampening frequencies give the GR-1 a quiet street ride.
Mounted in the center of the dash is the Tire IQ display. Sensors in the tires and a built-in accelerometer measure tire temperature and pressure, as well as cornering and braking g-forces, all of which is relayed to the driver and passenger in real-time.
Creating the GR-1
In many cases, cars are
designed starting with the frame or the engine, and once the
internal components are completed, the body is shaped around
it. This is one reason so many of today's supercars look
similar -- they tend to conform to the body shape required of
a mid-engine-design, aerodynamically stable vehicle.
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The Ford Shelby GR-1 is a supercar in a league of its own. The design for the car started with a single sketch by Ford designer George Saridakis. "George produced this completely resolved sketch, the best I've seen in 10 years," said J Mays, Ford Motor Company vice president of design. "This is a designer so masterful at visualizing every aspect of the car and its story that it literally flowed out of his pen." Ford also sidestepped another common aspect of supercar design -- high-technology. Yes, the GR-1 is modern, but it doesn't incorporate any experimental technologies in the mechanical systems. Instead, the car relies on Shelby's simpler vision of high-performance: putting a lot of high-quality parts in a well-designed car. It's still incredibly sophisticated and advanced, but with so much of the car coming from the Ford GT, the designers didn't have to go out on any limbs for the GR-1.
Like all concept cars, the GR-1's main goal in life is to lend prestige to the manufacturer. However, if the GR-1 goes into production, it could have a much livelier future. GR-1 stands for Group Racing 1, and that harkens back to the great Shelby cars of the 1960s, which dominated the American road racing circuit and gave Ferrari a serious challenge in the European series. It's possible we could see a GR-1 tearing up the Daytona track in the next few years.
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Carroll Shelby Texan Carroll Shelby began racing in the 1950s after working as an aircraft-pilot trainer during WWII and then running a failed chicken business. His driving skill was noticed quickly, and he was soon driving for top race teams in the United States and Europe. In 1957, Sports Illustrated named him Driver of the Year. In 1960, Shelby began to experience heart problems
that eventually led to his retirement from racing later
that year. In 1962, Shelby put a Ford engine in a
roadster built by AC Cars of England. The name for that
first car, the Cobra, came to him in a dream. Cobras
would soon be winning races and championships in a
variety of racing divisions around the world. In 1964,
Shelby developed the Ford Mustang into an awe-inspiring
racing machine, and the Ford-Shelby collaboration was
solidified. |
Production Possibilities
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The Man, the Myth
... Designing
amazing cars isn't the only thing Carroll Shelby is
famous for. He also helped start a nationally known
chili cook-off in his home state of Texas. The Shelby
chili recipe was so popular that he started selling
packets of his seasonings. In 1986, he sold his
successful chili company to
Kraft. |
Will the people at Ford produce the GR-1? There are signs that they might. First, they created a working car, not just a showroom mockup. Second, with so much of the GR-1 built around parts from the GT, a large percentage of the car is already what the engineers call "production feasible." When the GT concept was given the go-ahead in 2002 to go into production, only five percent of it was production feasible. There could be some changes in a production model GR-1, such as the V10 giving way to a V8, which would be cheaper and easier to produce. Ford hasn't offered a narrow price range, but it's estimated that the cost would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Finally, there are rumors that the GT, currently the jewel in Ford's high-performance crown, could be taken out of production in 2007. As Autoweek points out, that gives Ford plenty of time to bring the GR-1 down the production pipeline, thus maintaining their presence in the world of high-performance cars.
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