posted 04-08-2004 11:00 AM         

By Eric Mayne / The Detroit News

Comment on this story
Send this story to a friend
Get Home Delivery

DEARBORN — In the minds of the motoring public, the Mustang is just a thinly-veiled race car.

So, Ford Motor Co. is using this week’s New York International Auto Show to bare the soul of its Mustang icon with the GT-R, a concept vehicle that celebrates the car’s ties with speed and performance.

“It’s a full-blown racer,” said J Mays, Ford’s group vice president of design. “It has more power than any man has a right to aim down the road.”

Making its debut in the same city where the first Mustang was introduced at the 1964 World’s Fair, the concept car is based on the 2005 production model and hints at what might be seen on the track when race teams get their hands on the new pony car. Ford will begin building the production model in September at AutoAlliance Inc., the Flat Rock plant it shares with Mazda Motor Corp.

The GT-R is also an homage to the imaginations of Mustang owners who can’t resist the temptation to tinker.

“It’s a celebration of things that people have done to Mustang over the years,” Mays said. “Through 40 years, they have just kept taking them and changing them and customizing them and modifying them. So we’re just trying to stoke that fire a little bit before September.”

Fittingly, the concept car is powered by a 500-hp 5.0-liter V-8, which is based on a Ford “crate” engine — so named because it offers high performance in a box. Ford builds and sells the engines for $14,995 each to enthusiasts who want to do their own customizing.

And while the GT-R remains a concept car with outlandish features such as a Formula One-style steering wheel, wide racing tires and a race-proven six-speed transmission, it still has resonance for Mustang fans. More than 85 percent of the GT-R’s body structure comes from the car that will roll off the line with a starting price under $20,000.

The GT-R was built in Troy, Mich., by Saleen Specialty Vehicles, which has its own connection with Mustang. Its California-based parent company, Saleen Inc., is Ford’s largest Mustang customer. It buys and customizes about 1,000 Mustang models annually and resells them at prices ranging from $36,669 to $150,000.