Photo: karradv/instagram
I have the privilege of feasting my eyes on the iconic lines of the 1968 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 every day. This is the luck I've built with my own hands when I picked up the 1:64 scale Hot Wheels model from the local store. And now my computer screen displays a virtually restomodded incarnation of the '68 GT500KR, all with the help of the rendering we have here.
For starters, this pixel exercise seems to cater to a need quite a few of us digital citizens experience these days: production muscle cars in Cyberpunk 2077, the open-world RPG sensation launched last month (for the record, the game's only "accurate" design is an air-cooled Porsche 911 Turbo).
In fact, here's Karan Adivi, the muscle car-loving digital artist behind the proposal, explaining the creation process: "I was inspired by Cyberpunk's [Quadra] Type-66 and wanted to test out a similar design on a real world car. Definitely loving how it turned out."
The KR, short for King of the Road, was a mid-year update for the 1968 GT500 - this model year was the first that saw Ford take over production from Shelby American. And the Blue Oval decided to introduce the Cobra Jet version of the 428 engine, with the new 7-liter V8 being officially rated at 335 hp, but actually delivering well north of 400 ponies. Of course, the understated factory numbers helped with insurance payments, while also building up even more hype.
Returning to this pixel effort, the lines of the '68 Shelby GT500KR have been left in place, albeit with plenty of tweaks showing up across the vehicle (this also explains the nickname we chose for the car, which we dropped in the title).
For one, the air intakes on the fiberglass hood now come in super-sized form and while the front bumper has kept its place, we can find an air-dam-gone-apron underneath it. The latter is just a part of the vehicle's aero updates, which involves meaty overfenders, while the tiny gap between these and the custom wheels suggests we're dealing with air suspension.
Speaking of the rolling goodies, these seem to borrow most of their styling from the racing world's Turbofan wheels, which could suggest they suck air from under the vehicle, thus adding downforce and cooling the brakes.
The modern rear spoiler is part of the Cyberpunk treatment, and so is the hardware that sits on the front bumper. Instead of dealing with a Bosozoku-style oil cooler like one might expect when looking at the machine from a distance, the lower goodie is actually there to provide the vehicle with autonomous driving abilities - we're eight decades years into the future, remember?
In fact, here's Karan Adivi, the muscle car-loving digital artist behind the proposal, explaining the creation process: "I was inspired by Cyberpunk's [Quadra] Type-66 and wanted to test out a similar design on a real world car. Definitely loving how it turned out."
The KR, short for King of the Road, was a mid-year update for the 1968 GT500 - this model year was the first that saw Ford take over production from Shelby American. And the Blue Oval decided to introduce the Cobra Jet version of the 428 engine, with the new 7-liter V8 being officially rated at 335 hp, but actually delivering well north of 400 ponies. Of course, the understated factory numbers helped with insurance payments, while also building up even more hype.
Returning to this pixel effort, the lines of the '68 Shelby GT500KR have been left in place, albeit with plenty of tweaks showing up across the vehicle (this also explains the nickname we chose for the car, which we dropped in the title).
For one, the air intakes on the fiberglass hood now come in super-sized form and while the front bumper has kept its place, we can find an air-dam-gone-apron underneath it. The latter is just a part of the vehicle's aero updates, which involves meaty overfenders, while the tiny gap between these and the custom wheels suggests we're dealing with air suspension.
Speaking of the rolling goodies, these seem to borrow most of their styling from the racing world's Turbofan wheels, which could suggest they suck air from under the vehicle, thus adding downforce and cooling the brakes.
The modern rear spoiler is part of the Cyberpunk treatment, and so is the hardware that sits on the front bumper. Instead of dealing with a Bosozoku-style oil cooler like one might expect when looking at the machine from a distance, the lower goodie is actually there to provide the vehicle with autonomous driving abilities - we're eight decades years into the future, remember?
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