Hammer to Fall This Weekend as Ford
Auctions Unique 2013 Shelby GT500 24-Hour Durability Prototype
The Ford Shelby GT500 Durability car was
personally piloted by Carroll Shelby during testing at the historic
Sebring International Raceway.
DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford is giving muscle
car enthusiasts a rare opportunity to bid on the racetrack durability
car used to develop the 2013 Shelby GT500 production Mustang. The car
will be auctioned at the 41st Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car
Auction Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The sale will raise money for the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). On the auction stage will be Ford’s
President of The Americas, Mark Fields, and members of SVT. The event
will be televised live on SPEED Channel.
“This GT500 durability car represents the
most recent collaboration between Ford SVT and Carroll Shelby,” said
Fields. “Working alongside Carroll, our SVT team put this durability car
through some of the most demanding driving conditions at Sebring
International Raceway as well as others across the country. The result
of those tests is the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500, the most powerful
production V8 in the world.”
The durability car was built in 2007 – one
of the first vehicles with the new 2010 body. Then, for the 2013 model,
the prototype was run for 24 hours at top speeds of 150 mph at Sebring
to ensure all systems function properly for customers who will replicate
such grueling conditions.
The car includes a full roll cage,
six-point harness seatbelts and new Recaro racing seats that were
donated by Recaro North America, identical to those used in development.
The production 2013 Shelby GT500 will be available with optional SVT-designed
Recaro seats. Evidence of instrumentation from development also can be
found inside the vehicle. Each member of SVT engineering who worked on
the 2013 Shelby GT500 has signed the underside of the trunk lid.
“I raced on the Sebring International
racetrack for many years, but my ambition was always to build my own
car,” said Carroll Shelby. “It was exciting to be back to collaborate on
this GT500 durability car with the SVT guys. I’m really proud to have my
name on this car. They took my dreams of what a car should be and made
it a reality.”
All proceeds from the auction of the car
will benefit JDRF, a leader in research leading to a cure for Type 1
diabetes. During the past five years, Ford has raised more than $3
million for charity through sales of vehicles at Barrett-Jackson
auctions.
“When the Ford SVT team and
Carroll Shelby collaborate on a car, you know it’s going to be
firing on all cylinders,” said Steve Davis, president of
Barrett-Jackson Auction Company. “We have a long history of
working with Ford and Carroll and are excited to have this
one-of-one durability car cross our auction block in Scottsdale
to benefit a very worthy charity.”
2013 Ford Shelby GT500
The ultimate Ford Mustang – Shelby GT500 –
raises the bar high on performance by delivering a test track top speed
of more than 200 mph. The 5.8-liter V8 aluminum-block engine produces
650 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque, making it the most powerful
production V8 in the world.
Nearly every part of the powertrain has
been optimized for producing the additional horsepower, including a new
supercharger, new cross-drilled block and heads, updated camshaft
profiles, a new carbon fiber driveshaft and upgraded clutch,
transmission and axle.
Plus, nearly every gear on the 2013 Ford
Shelby GT500 has been revised to manage the torque and use more of the
power in a way that makes it more driver-friendly.
The 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 will be built
at AutoAlliance International Plant in Flat Rock, Mich.
