Photo: Ford
Dodge wasn’t the only American automaker to offer a ten-cylinder engine back in the day. Replaced by the Godzilla V8 in heavy-duty applications, the Modular V10 from the Ford Motor Company should have been the weapon of choice for the first generation of the GT supercar.
Also known as the Triton V10, the gas-guzzling leviathan was much to the liking of Carroll Shelby and SVT head honcho John Coletti. According to Camilo Pardo, the chief designer of the GT, “the decision was to take the best engine that Ford had, reproduce it in aluminum, and then put a supercharger on it.”
“In the early 2000s, the Powertrain Research and Advanced Engine Development group within Ford began work on a Mustang powered by an all-aluminum version of the Triton V10.” According to Driving Line, the high-performance powerplant based on the 4.6-liter Modular V8 featured a pair of ECUs for the fuel injection and ignition systems, quad cams from the limited-edition Cobra R, and a short-stroke design that translated to 5.8 liters.
As you’re well aware, the first generation of the GT and the Mustang from that era - the S197 - didn’t receive this magnificent engine. The cited publication quotes “rocky finances and a tight development timeline” for the project’s cancelation, which is understandable if you fast-forward a few years to the financial crisis. Of the Big Three in Detroit, only the Blue Oval weathered this crisis without asking the U.S. government for a bailout.
Had it found its way under the hood of a Mustang, the most likely application for the 5.8-liter V10 would have been the Shelby GT500. In terms of suck-squeeze-bang-blow, the ten-cylinder engine would’ve matched the 550 horsepower of the 5.4-liter supercharged V8 in the GT supercar or 540 horsepower in the case of the slitherin' serpent on four wheels.
Before pulling the plug on the all-aluminum V10, the top brass commissioned a 7.0-liter version of the said engine for the 427 Sedan Concept. That one cranked out 605 ponies, which pales in comparison to the 760 horsepower of the Predator V8 we now have in the Shelby GT500. As for the GT, the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 has been taken to 660 horsepower for the 2020 model year.
“In the early 2000s, the Powertrain Research and Advanced Engine Development group within Ford began work on a Mustang powered by an all-aluminum version of the Triton V10.” According to Driving Line, the high-performance powerplant based on the 4.6-liter Modular V8 featured a pair of ECUs for the fuel injection and ignition systems, quad cams from the limited-edition Cobra R, and a short-stroke design that translated to 5.8 liters.
As you’re well aware, the first generation of the GT and the Mustang from that era - the S197 - didn’t receive this magnificent engine. The cited publication quotes “rocky finances and a tight development timeline” for the project’s cancelation, which is understandable if you fast-forward a few years to the financial crisis. Of the Big Three in Detroit, only the Blue Oval weathered this crisis without asking the U.S. government for a bailout.
Had it found its way under the hood of a Mustang, the most likely application for the 5.8-liter V10 would have been the Shelby GT500. In terms of suck-squeeze-bang-blow, the ten-cylinder engine would’ve matched the 550 horsepower of the 5.4-liter supercharged V8 in the GT supercar or 540 horsepower in the case of the slitherin' serpent on four wheels.
Before pulling the plug on the all-aluminum V10, the top brass commissioned a 7.0-liter version of the said engine for the 427 Sedan Concept. That one cranked out 605 ponies, which pales in comparison to the 760 horsepower of the Predator V8 we now have in the Shelby GT500. As for the GT, the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 has been taken to 660 horsepower for the 2020 model year.
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