The competition checks in

[I Ben Therbefor]

Ford's GT40 production team shaping up; vehicle may be ready by mid '03

By JOHN D. STOLL

Ford's GT40 production team is coming together.

The automaker has confirmed that performance suppliers such as Roush Industries and Saleen Industries as well as mega suppliers such as Lear will build the car. Roush will develop powertrain, Lear will work on interior, Saleen will assist with assembly processes and U.K.-based Mayflower Vehicle Systems will develop the GT40's aluminum body and chassis. Mayflower also works with Land Rover, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz and Bentley.

In addition to naming a number of in-house executives from Ford Racing and Special Vehicles Team, Ford announced that Carroll Shelby will serve as senior technical advisor.

The GT40 is slated to be released in very limited quantity next summer and once production is fully ramped up, the car will be produced in the hundreds anually.

While Ford will oversee the actual assembly of the GT40, Saleen will build the vehicle at a factory located within 300 miles of Detroit, which forces Saleen to move at least some of its operations from Southern California where it has a design house, production facility and parts distribution hub. Ford wants all GT40 production operations and suppliers to be located within a 300-mile radius of headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Lear, Roush and Mayflower all have operations in Detroit.

 

[King GTS]

Looks like a WHOOOLE lot of guys will be eatin crow because it appears 1bad gts was 100% right! I can't remember how many times he said it was coming & no one would listen.

 

[onerareviper]

Few people (I can remember) really doubted the release date of Summer 2003. This is old news. What people said is it will be 2005 before you can 'realistically' buy one, if not later. In 2003, it will be very limited, and only the corporate execs or rich&famous will be able to purchase. In 2004, they will still probably be very limited, and marked up big-time. Therefore, for us normal people, 2005 is probably the 'realistic' purchase date. Even then, if what I'm reading is true (only in the hundred's produced per year), you might as well forget MSRP - or anywhere near it..... I hope I am wrong, as this is all speculation...

Common Ford. At least give me hope. If this turns out to be true, I would not even consider the GT40 a production car in this limited quantity. Kind'a like saying the F50 was a production car - yeah, right....

Later

 

[GTS Dean]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by onerareviper:
In 2003, it will be very limited, and only the corporate execs or rich&famous will be able to purchase. In 2004, they will still probably be very limited, and marked up big-time. Therefore, for us normal people, 2005 is probably the 'realistic' purchase date.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds a lot like the original Vipers in '92-'93-'94.