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Mid-Engine Ford GT 500 Looks Virtually Perfect to Fight the C8 Corvette Z06

Ford GT 500 CGI mashup by jlord8 78 photos
Photo: jlord8 / Instagram
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Today, the automotive industry looks grim – especially in North America – for any nameplate that doesn't rhyme with crossover, SUV, or truck rhythms. However, exceptions exist, such as the latest iteration of 'America's sports car,' the C8 Chevy Corvette luxury sports car.
Finally envisioned as the perfect weapon to fight European sports cars and GTs, the eighth iteration reinvented itself from the long days of the front-engine RWD setup to a rear-mid-engine strategy that sent it clashing with all the Old Continent's heroes, including the passionate folks over at Ferrari. Sure, it was not the C8 Corvette Stingray that represents the clear and present danger because it 'only' has up to 495 horsepower under its belt. Instead, the weapon of mass track and street destruction is the latest Corvette Z06.

Equipped with the new LT6 naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V8 with FPC (flat-plane crankshaft), it has become a record-holding mill rocking 670 hp (500 kW/679 ps) at 8,400 rpm and 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) at 6,300 rpm capable of sprinting to 60 mph (96 kph) in as little as 2.6 seconds. Featuring a wider body than the Stingray, the Z06 is now the very definition of classic sports car performance in a world of CUVs, SUVs, and trucks.

Speaking of the latter, with mere hours until Toyota finally officially unveils the 2024 Tacoma pickup truck – which was again teased in TRD Pro and Trailhunter guises – you would think that everyone only cares about off-road and trailering adventures. Well, that may be valid for the real world, but things are a bit different across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. And there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have an eloquent example from Jim, aka jlord8, when dwelling around his "imagination land."

This pixel master usually dabbles with vintage digital projects – such as a recent C6 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 transformed into a practical Sportback Shooting Brake. And, of course, we could not help but embed it second below. But sometimes, he also derails into contemporaneity for moments of genius or madness – categorizing them depends entirely on your POV. Such was also the case recently when he created this 'Ford GT 500' project, a daring mix of Ford's GT mid-engine supercar and the outgoing S550 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 high-performance muscle car.

Frankly, although this is pretty obviously merely wishful thinking and also an outrageous CGI mashup at heart, it's also not bad at all. Imagine it on the streets and at the track – both on winding courses and the quarter-mile dragstrip, ready to duke it out with the 670-horsepower C8 Chevy Corvette Z06. And just to be sure it wins all battles, may we also suggest swapping the 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 for the supercharged 5.2-liter Predator V8?





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Editor's note: Gallery includes official images of Ford GT and Mustang Shelby GT500.

About the author: Aurel Niculescu
Aurel Niculescu profile photo

Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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