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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.

Escort services – 1968 Escort 1100 Restomod

19 September, 2024

The Escort started off as a 1968 1100 cc two-door sold-new in Britain. At some point it was retired from daily duty and set aside as a pet project for someone. When that project began is unclear, but much of the work was completed in 2014 including a complete rotisserie restoration.
By the end of 2014, it was finished but not completed. Its Wellingtonian owner bought it sight unseen from the UK and it landed here in early 2020. It was soon dispatched to Macbilt in Grenada North, Wellington for them to work their magic.
Macbilt had two instructions: to get the car through compliance for use on the road; and to improve the vehicle and finish the project so it drove as well as it looked. Looking at the car now, it has an amazing presence and stance. It can’t help but attract attention and a bevy of admirers.

Lunch with … Cary Taylor

11 September, 2024

Many years ago — in June 1995 to be more precise — I was being wowed with yet another terrific tale from Geoff Manning who had worked spanners on all types of racing cars. We were chatting at Bruce McLaren Intermediate school on the 25th anniversary of the death of the extraordinary Kiwi for whom the school was named. Geoff, who had been part of Ford’s Le Mans programme in the ’60s, and also Graham Hill’s chief mechanic — clearly realising that he had me in the palm of his hand — offered a piece of advice that I’ve never forgotten: “If you want the really good stories, talk to the mechanics.”
Without doubt the top mechanics, those involved in the highest echelons of motor racing, have stories galore — after all, they had relationships with their drivers so intimate that, to quote Geoff all those years ago, “Mechanics know what really happened.”