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Ford's '40 GT at SEMA - Wow
It's a '40 Ford with the soul of a GT40, and Eric, our SEMA correspondent, says it's one of the most unusual rods he
has ever seen.
The body is handmade from 1.5mm-thick pure copper to a design based on a 1940 Ford Roadster. The copper panels were
made in Poland, at a former MiG fighter factory (I'm not making this up!), and then shipped to
Kirkham Motorsports in the U.S. for assembly. (Kirkham is a
manufacturer of finely-crafted aluminum-bodied Cobra replicas.) More magic after the jump.
The bodywork is hung on a custom tubular stainless steel chassis of mid-engine/rear wheel drive design, with fully
independent dual wishbone front and rear suspension. Other chassis features include Penske racing shocks, Brembo
4-piston brakes, hubs from the 2006 Ford GT, and Kirkham-fabricated billet control arms. Wheels are from the Ford GT -
18x9 front/19x11.5 rear, with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires.
The powertrain is pure Ford GT, using the 2006 Ford GT Modular Engine (5.4-liter, 4-valve, supercharged) and the Ford
GT 6-speed transaxle.
The cockpit features a hand-carved African hardwood dash and trim, with polished aluminum accents and black leather
seats.
What an amazing piece of work.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Russ 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Pure copper eh? I hope there's a dedicated shine boy that comes along with it. I'd love that see that thing turn green.
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Jason E. Rist 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
I wonder how much it *weighs*.
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Hugo 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
That's a lot of copper. How much does that weigh? Copper is HEAVY. If Cu=8,8 kg / dm3, a 1 m2 layer of 1'5mm-thick copper weighs 13'2 kg. How many of these were used in that body?
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Matt 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Kirkham uses the same MiG factory to make the aluminum bodies for their Cobra replicas. It's actually an interesting story. Kirkham actually took a vintage Cobra body to these guys who used to do MiGs, and they measured the thing and found that it wasn't even close to symmetrical. They tweaked the surfacing to make a symmetrical tools, and the result is better fit and finish than the original bodies from AC.
I would be interested to see if Kirkham is looking to expand his portfolio into the custom hot-rod arena and is testing the waters with this concept.
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Blake 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
That is absolutely beautiful.
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Phil R. 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
The car weighs just under 3000lbs total. The motor is putting out around 700hp with the help from a custom computer from Paul's High Performance. I work at Kirkham's and got to drive it in to the show. It is truly a beautiful car.
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Mike 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
What a beautiful car ...
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Dennis O'Keefe 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Thank you for building the copper 40, my Hat is off to you, it is the best.
I built a "stainless steel" 32 w/ a blown Hemi in it, 32 gallons of coolant goes threw the chassis .(there is no Radiator) it was on the second floor in the south building.....I drove it in with open headers. (the car is not quite finished but is it does run)......sema won't show any pictues of it? the whole car BODY, Chassis, Steering Wheel, ect. were made by one Person, "Me", Dennis O'Keefe
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