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Ford set the bar for 2015 with new Ford GT

13 January, 2015

The year that was 2014 showed us that America is stepping up its game with some amazing performance offerings from Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Ford. No sooner has 2015 rolled around and Ford are back, making waves at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show by unveiling their new Ford GT.

While the design cues are undoubtedly of the same gene pool as the original Ford GT40 and old Ford GT, the 2015 Ford GT is a total evolution in both style and engineering.

The supercharged 5.4-litre V8 that powered the previous Ford GT is nowhere to be seen — power now comes from a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6, producing over 600hp. Ford claims that it is the most powerful EcoBoost production engine ever.

Lightweight materials, including carbon fibre and aluminium, feature extensively on the new Ford GT. The passenger cell is carbon fibre, the front and rear subframes are aluminium, and structural body panels are moulded from carbon fibre. The light weight afforded by these materials will no doubt enable phenomenal acceleration and handling, thankfully kept in check by carbon-ceramic brake discs, 20-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot tyres, and state-of-the-art active racing-style torsion bar and pushrod suspension set-up.

Production is said to be scheduled for late next year, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Ford GT race cars taking all three podium places in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.