Kirby Garlitos wrote:The SEMA Auto Show is the one place in the auto show when cars like the Ford Mustang take center stage. That much we can all agree on seeing as the event is primarily geared towards the aftermarket world and the Mustang is one of the most tuned performance cars in the business today. Ford has already released its lineup of aftermarket Mustangs, but true to form, more projects are being unveiled as we count down the days to November 1. Take this dandy of a project undertaken by Zero to 60 Designs for example. It’s a program that’s apparently inspired by the Ford GT, right down to the dramatically altered appearance and the 800-horsepower engine upgrade that’s just dying to be unleashed.
Based out of Corona, California, the tuner has made numerous appearances at SEMA to show of its past projects, most notably “Eleanor’s Big Brother,” a 1975 Ford Bronco that was given an off-road makeover to go with a style inspired by Eleanor, the holy grail 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds.
This time around, Zero to 60 seconds is bringing a Ford Mustang GT that’s been redesigned to look like the new Ford GT supercar, hence the decision to christen the project as the Mustang Gran Turismo Tribute. To the tuner’s credit, the similarities are evident, right down to the stretched hood with the two extractors, the wider fenders, and the bigger intakes.
Aesthetically, it doesn’t look like the standard Mustang GT, which I suppose was the tuner’s objective in the first place. But more than the fancy aero kit, the program also features a muscle-flexing engine upgrade, a new set of wheels, and suspension upgrades to tie all the aftermarket pieces together. Best of all, the tuner has said that it plans to put the Mustang GTT into limited production sometime in the early part of 2017.
Exterior
Take a deep breath before you proceed because you’re going to see a mountain of changes made to the car’s exterior makeup. I know I said that the hood is the most striking aftermarket component, but it really isn’t because all the other pieces are just as dramatically restyled. To be fair, the hood is a significant part of the whole kit as it resembles the sharp, pointed version of the Ford GT, right down to the subtle overhang. Just below the hood is the massive air intake and the similarly styled bumper of the GT.
Move to the side and you’ll immediately notice the the air inlets just before the rear wheels. The regular Mustang doesn’t have that feature, but the GT does. Add the stretched fenders on the front and rear with the large side skirts and you get a far more aggressive-looking Mustang GT that’s somewhat succeeding in channeling the design spirit of its supercar brethren.
Speaking of which, the rear section is pretty much an ode to the GT in it of itself. The ‘Stang’s standard taillight configuration has been completely replaced with the round taillights of the GT. The rear wing is also a nice aftermarket touch, as is the super-sized diffuser that accommodates the pair of exhausts just below the license plate section. In fact, the only thing Zero to 60 Designs didn’t successfully interpret is the placement of the exhausts, opting instead to add a flat central panel on the section where the exhausts are located in the actual GT supercar.
Finishing off the overwhelming cosmetic and aerodynamic changes are the racing stripes and the new set of 22-inch HPE Performance wheels that themselves are wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero tires.
Interior
There are no specific items on the interior yet, but there’s a good chance that Zero to 60 Designs will have something in store for us when the show car makes its debut at SEMA.
Drivetrain
You’d expect a base Ford Mustang GT that carries a Ford GT-inspired bodykit to have a performance upgrade, right? You’d be right in that regard because Zero to 60 Designs put in a whopper of an engine tune in the form of a ProCharger supercharger and a PCT Performance management system. The specifics were not disclosed, but the gist of it is that the supercharger was likely bolted onto the ‘Stang’s 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 with the engine management system acting as the overseer, helping the V-8 engine produce at least 800 horsepower. Considering that the standard Mustang GT pumps out 435 horsepower, 800 ponies can be considered a massive power improvement. Finishing off the mechanical modifications is the installation of Hibachi’s Pro-Street-S suspension kit, an important addition to help maintain the heavily modified Mustang’s overall handling and balance.
Conclusion
The tricky part about all of these SEMA-bound Ford Mustangs is that they’re really subject to interpretation from those looking at them. I mean, I can say good things about all of the projects that Ford unveiled and I can say the same thing about what Zero to 60 Designs has on offer with this Ford GT-styled Mustang tuning kit. The aesthetics alone in this build is worth the price of admission – the taillights being an exception – and when you combine that with the added performance tune, you get a project that’s going to turn a lot of heads in Las Vegas.
