There’s still a few weeks left in 2011, but in car terms it’s been 2012 since swimsuit season and the 2013 model year will go on-sale about six months hence. Just enough time for a good party planner to whip up an appropriate celebration for Ford’s Special Vehicle Team.
Yep, it’s already been 20 years since SVT was formed in 1991, and with the debut of the much-anticipated 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 next summer SVT has the perfect excuse to left their engineering hair down. But just how should SVT smoke the tires on their 20th?
SVT’s mantra is Performance, Substance, Exclusivity and Value, and as part of Ford Motor Company their cars will always be close to the blue oval. Currently they can’t build enough F-150 Raptors to meet demand and the GT500 Shelby is at 550 hp headed to 650 in the heavily updated 2013 model.
We’d hate to see SVT stick a few plastic badges on the new GT500 and call it good—although if we’re reading our specification sheets correctly the 2013 GT500 will light enthusiasts on fire with its 200+ mph bow wake alone. And the Raptor, excellent as it is, might be a little too specialized, and muddy, for a 20th anniversary special.
SVT could take a cue from Ford Racing and make a very limited run of Mustangs ala the track-only Mustang Cobra Jets. Tuned for race gas and with a little more boost the upcoming 5.8 GT500 engine would easily make 1,000 hp. The aftermarket does it all the time, and with some of Ford’s best electronic traction controls to make it driveable SVT would certainly have left a mark in the automotive pavement with that one.
Or is there something more unique in SVT’s future? A reprise of the GT40 theme, perhaps? Or a new take on speed using any one of Ford’s new generation of turbocharged and direct injection EcoBoost engines? Combining torquey muscle and top end revs in relatively light, compact packages the EcoBoost fours and sixes hold a lot of enthusiast promise. A variation of the 3.5-liter V-6 EcoBoost engine in anything from a Mustang to a pocket-exotic mid-engine chassis is a good example, and if you want to go off the deep end, why not a 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 in a single seater. Call it the SVT Solo.
Back in reality, any of these engineering-intense anniversary specials is undoubtedly too expensive for SVT to pull off. But they have another avenue to travel, their own owner’s club, the Special Vehicle Team Owners Association. SVT has always—thankfully—shied away from too much flash in their cars, so maybe what they need is a simple party. Gather up the SVTOA faithful, rent a track where the Cobras, Shelbys, Lightnings, Contours, Foci and Raptors could play, bring in the personalities and let everyone on hand sample the latest from SVT.
It would be fun and they might even sell a few cars.
Related posts:
- Upgrades for the 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
- Ford Pulls A Fast One
- A Virtual Spin of the Ford Stand – 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show
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