Photo: kelsonik / Instagram
This fall was choked full of significant automotive events, and of course, America took its fair share with the recently completed 2023 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. And, of course, more great things are coming – such as the 2024 Los Angeles Auto Show (November 17-26).
As far as SEMA was concerned, it kept the headlines with lots and lots of great introductions – from specialty builds that you never thought possible because they were initially cooked in fantasy land to OEMs that promoted their latest products and new ways of trespassing into the aftermarket realm's territory.
Two of the many examples I particularly enjoyed seeing and writing about were Toyota (with that 2024 Tacoma X-Runner street/sport truck concept) and Ford Motor Company. The Blue Oval brought numerous goodies to the 'party,' and it had an exciting emphasis on 'affordable' models like the $31k 2024 Mustang sports car, $39k 2024 Bronco SUV, or the $33k Ranger mid-size pickup truck.
Naturally, the Bronco and Ranger cousins were featured with many off-road-focused goodies – and overlanding adventurers indeed rejoiced at the sight of them all. Meanwhile, the biggest reveal at SEMA came from the Ford Performance street packages for the all-new S650 Mustang GT, which included a fresh Mustang FP800S concept package. What's that great about it, one might ask? Well, among many other bits and pieces, it also includes a new 3.0-liter, sixth-generation Whipple Supercharger kit that raises total output to at least 800 hp! Basically, that's more than what the S550 Shelby GT500 was capable of not long ago and on par with Mopar's Hellcat Redeye models!
Hopefully, we will soon have this kit in series production and for a reasonable price – not the kind of 'buy-another-car' money that Mopar's Direct Connection asks for the Hellephant C170 crate engine, which is going to be sold starting next year for no less than $27,695 – that's almost as much as the base 2024 Mustang EcoBoost! Anyway, the apparition of that light-blue Mustang GT with decals and a nice aerodynamic kit to go along with the FP800S concept package was sure to give some folks new ideas about what to do next with it.
And when dealing with the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, it's pretty evident that virtual artists will have a field day with such wild concepts. For example, Nikita Chuicko, the pixel master better known as kelsonik on social media, thinks now is the right CGI time to (re)fuel our Ford Explorer expectations. In the past, he imagined the sixth generation's (U625) refresh with a front styling borrowed directly from the Mustang GT or Dark Horse.
Now he's back with an even cooler bang – as he transplanted the Mustang GT FP800S concept package's design onto the mid-size crossover SUV with a high degree of success. It looks spot on, frankly, and I can only imagine the kind of success a Ford Explorer with 800+ hp from the FP800S kit would have against the likes of Dodge Durango's SRT Hellcat three-row performance CUV. So, what do you think? Should they put something like this into series production and offer Blue Oval enthusiasts the perks of driving around trails in the Ranger, Bronco, or F-150 Raptors and in town or at the track with the Mustang and Explorer FP800S?
Two of the many examples I particularly enjoyed seeing and writing about were Toyota (with that 2024 Tacoma X-Runner street/sport truck concept) and Ford Motor Company. The Blue Oval brought numerous goodies to the 'party,' and it had an exciting emphasis on 'affordable' models like the $31k 2024 Mustang sports car, $39k 2024 Bronco SUV, or the $33k Ranger mid-size pickup truck.
Naturally, the Bronco and Ranger cousins were featured with many off-road-focused goodies – and overlanding adventurers indeed rejoiced at the sight of them all. Meanwhile, the biggest reveal at SEMA came from the Ford Performance street packages for the all-new S650 Mustang GT, which included a fresh Mustang FP800S concept package. What's that great about it, one might ask? Well, among many other bits and pieces, it also includes a new 3.0-liter, sixth-generation Whipple Supercharger kit that raises total output to at least 800 hp! Basically, that's more than what the S550 Shelby GT500 was capable of not long ago and on par with Mopar's Hellcat Redeye models!
Hopefully, we will soon have this kit in series production and for a reasonable price – not the kind of 'buy-another-car' money that Mopar's Direct Connection asks for the Hellephant C170 crate engine, which is going to be sold starting next year for no less than $27,695 – that's almost as much as the base 2024 Mustang EcoBoost! Anyway, the apparition of that light-blue Mustang GT with decals and a nice aerodynamic kit to go along with the FP800S concept package was sure to give some folks new ideas about what to do next with it.
And when dealing with the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, it's pretty evident that virtual artists will have a field day with such wild concepts. For example, Nikita Chuicko, the pixel master better known as kelsonik on social media, thinks now is the right CGI time to (re)fuel our Ford Explorer expectations. In the past, he imagined the sixth generation's (U625) refresh with a front styling borrowed directly from the Mustang GT or Dark Horse.
Now he's back with an even cooler bang – as he transplanted the Mustang GT FP800S concept package's design onto the mid-size crossover SUV with a high degree of success. It looks spot on, frankly, and I can only imagine the kind of success a Ford Explorer with 800+ hp from the FP800S kit would have against the likes of Dodge Durango's SRT Hellcat three-row performance CUV. So, what do you think? Should they put something like this into series production and offer Blue Oval enthusiasts the perks of driving around trails in the Ranger, Bronco, or F-150 Raptors and in town or at the track with the Mustang and Explorer FP800S?
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