Ford sedan with the heart of a GT

Described as Frankenstein in a blue-oval badge, this steroidal sedan was spawned by students and staff of America's Washtenaw Community College's Custom Cars & Concepts program as a hands-on training exercise, but it ended up being a star exhibit at the recent Autorama custom car show in Detroit.

Starting with a relatively staid Ford Five Hundred sedan as a basis, the intrepid customising team turfed the donor car's mechanicals and shoehorned in a spaceframe chassis and 405kW V8 engine from the altogether more exciting Ford GT. The team also pilfered and adapted sheetmetal from a Ford
F-150 Flareside pick-up, just to make sure there was no chance of the project car being mistaken for a garden-variety Five Hundred.

It's a remarkable feat of engineering, as converting a front-engine, front-wheel drive sedan into a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive supercar isn't a project too many would dare attempt.

"Washtenaw Community College was looking for a challenging project for their Custom Cars & Concepts students," says John Heider, Ford's Medium/Large Car Vehicle Dynamics manager, "something beyond a simple body kit and some engine upgrades. So we challenged the college to make a four-door Ford GT, without compromising its supercar performance."

The fully functional show car will be used to hone the skills of Ford's top Vehicle Dynamics engineers.

Although Washtenaw College prides itself on providing real-world training, the academy says the Ford Five Hundred GT-R is by far the most outrageous project the class has attempted. And that's saying something, because past projects include fabricating and painting the fibreglass body shell of a
735kW Chevrolet Camaro funny car, a Dodge Magnum wagon featured on MTV's Cribs, and a twin-turbo, Mustang convertible that won Ford's prestigious 2005 Specialty Equipment Manufacturer's Association (SEMA) design award.

For the project, Ford sent two engineering prototypes -- both destined to be scrapped -- to Washtenaw Community College. For Gary Sobbry, advisor and instructor for WCC's Custom Cars & Concepts program, taking a cutting wheel to the Ford Five Hundred was difficult. Hitting the Ford GT with a cutting torch was a whole different proposition: "Here's this beautiful $150,000 (that's $205K in our dollars) supercar in the garage, and we're about to destroy it," said Sobbry. "Making the first cut was really tough."

The CCC team eventually dissected both the Ford GT and Five Hundred to create the Five Hundred GT-R. For example, the front end features a modified Five Hundred front fascia, with larger air intakes to feed the Ford GT cooling pack immediately behind the front bumper. The radiators are vented through the fiberglass Ford GT hood panel, which is inlaid in the original Five Hundred aluminium bonnet.

The profile features a standard Five Hundred roof line and greenhouse. The front doors are essentially stock, while the rear doors flare out 125mm.  Custom fabricated rear quarter panels -- constructed from sheetmetal off a Ford F-150 Flareside bed -- complete the wide-body kit. The flared wheel arches surround Ford GT wheels and tyres: 18x9.0-inch front wheels with 235/45ZR18 rubber; and 19x11.5-inch rear wheels with 315/40ZR19s.

According to Sobbry, airflow presented the biggest design challenge for the project. "The goal was not to build a show queen, but a functional car capable of more than 150 miles per hour (240km/h). So, we knew that air supply to the engine, and venting engine heat would be our biggest concerns."

To meet the required 1000 cubic feet of air per minute needed to produce 405kW, the team replaced the rear quarter windows with custom air scoops that feed into the 5.4-litre V8's air intakes. To help vent engine heat out of the cabin, heat extractors inspired by those on the Ford GT clamshell are
incorporated into the rear deck.

For the engine swap, Custom Cars & Concepts chopped the roof structure and front-suspension bulkhead off of the Ford GT aluminium space frame. Then, the complete drivetrain, rear suspension, and rear frame members were stuffed into the cutout Five Hundred body shell.

The Five Hundred front suspension and steering system were retained with modified geometry to function with the GT rear suspension.

The only engineering work that Custom Cars & Concepts did not tackle was the wiring. To complete the project, Ford technicians spliced the Ford GT powertrain and instrument modules into the Five Hundred's existing wiring harness.

What's next for Custom Cars & Concepts? They're working on a 1951 Ford pickup for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Powered by a 295kW, supercharged Ford V8, naturally.