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53 Cool Concepts... Part XLII

By Lane Bailey

Real Estate Agent with Century 21 Results Realty GA RE Lic # 282060

February 13, 2011 02:28 PM

It is a time honored tradition among car companies... and it makes a lot of financial sense. Build cars with similar components. If they can dive into the parts bin instead of designing a new piece from the ground up, they can save a lot of money. Everything from floor architecture to minor switchgear may be shared among cars.

Image via Wikipedia

A great example of this is with Chrysler. The Charger, Magnum, 300 and Challenger all have the same underpinnings... suspensions, brakes, steering... and also (with a few exceptions) the same engine and transmission offerings. In the case of the Charger, Magnum and 300, the front clips could be interchanged... although it wasn't a direct bolt-up.

And then there are cases like the Toyota MR2, where a common front wheel drive powertrain was relocated behind the driver to build a mid-engine, rear wheel drive car.

So... what can we do with that?

Ford has the Taurus SHO. It is a higher powered version of a reasonably boring, but competent car. There aren't that many front wheel drive 365hp powerplants floating around.

Image via Wikipedia

Twenty years ago, Ford took the SHO powerplant and transplanted it into a Fiesta... the result was the SHOgun. Nasty powerful and incredibly twitchy. A wolf in econobox clothing.

What they really need to do is make a Ford GT for the rest of us. Perhaps a 2 seat, mid engine car, maybe weighing under 2400lbs. Back it up with a 6 or 7 speed transmission and a limited slip differential. I would bet that it could stretch 30+mpg on the highway. The Taurus weighs in at almost 4400lbs. Dropping a ton and reducing the frontal area would rock the mileage, even with a sporty tune. The Taurus SHO is rated for 25mpg on the highway. The SHO kicks out around a 5.5sec 0-60 time and a 13sec 1/4 mile. I would expect that a 2400lb mid-engine car with good traction could drop that time under 4sec for the 0-60 and 11.5sec for the 1/4.

Fun...