Class clone: Ford engineers take a blast from the past, infuse it with Ferrari DNA and create the ultimate supercar

Automotive Industries, Jan, 2003 by John Peter

The forward-tilting hood is made of carbon fiber because of the need to form the very deep air scoops. "They were made deeper than the concept car," says Clarke, "because CAE modeling showed that it helped with engine cooling."

The rear clamshell tilts rearward like the original car. The outside is aluminum and the inner is composite. All of the openings are functional. One side scoop is for the transmission cooler and the other allows air to the engine. Engine intake scoops on each side lead to a large air box in the engine compartment and vents on either side of the back window and on the engine cover allow hot air to escape.

Clark says that the cantilevered-styled doors are a very important element of the original Ford GT. There was a concern that with the doors, the car would lose a lot of stiffness. Reinforcement was recovered in the 'Y' shaped extrusions that tie the bulkhead into the hefty A-pillars. It was decided that the doors would have to go all of the way in. If they were only done halfway the structure would travel right over the occupants head, creating a safety concern.

The doors are made from a one-piece outer and one-piece inner with pins at the top to hold the doors down at high speeds.

One of challenges that engineers faced was how to design the side windows so they would go down.

The original car had flush glass riveted to the body. They solved the dilemma by depressing the window surface into the car slightly and adding a molding around the edge. The side scoops were also pulled out.

Interior

The interior, done by Lear, carefully mimics the original. The interior will consist of exposed space frame down in the floor area. What won't be exposed aluminum will be covered with a material called AZDEL, a black plastic composite made of fiberglass and plastic formed into thin sheets, like a vinyl wrap. The material, developed by GE, is about half the weight of conventional materials. This is the first automotive application of AZDEL. The IP has a magnesium crossbar that also comes down to the console. The headliner and top of the console are stamped aluminum. The IP will feature full instrumentation including a speedometer, off-set to the center and angled toward the driver, a tachometer, voltage meter, water temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, boost gauge, fuel gauge and toggle switches. Lear is developing the racing-style bucket seats. Climate controls are in the console.

While packaging the interior, engineers had to determine if they needed to change the specific dimensions of the car. A seating buck was built to help them come up with a seating package and a mechanical package that was feasible within the appearance theme of the vehicle. It was also used to fine-tune the final shape of the doors.

Control placement and range of adjustment were all done in a CAD environment. The team used a lot of advanced CAD tools to develop 3-D models of the interior. A virtual digital occupant tool allowed them to adjust the positioning of interior components. The software could also be programmed to adjust parameters for height and size of occupants.