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Ex-Ford engineers build Corvette-based Speedster
The GDT Speedster shown in the accompanying pics is the work of a team of ex-Ford engineers and other auto industry veterans led by Gene Dickirson (GDT stands for Gene Dickirson Team). The nine-member team took five years to finish the first (and so far only) GDT vehicle, but it looks like it was well worth the effort.
Built as an engineering and design exercise, free of "the bureaucratic encumbrances of a large corporation," the Speedster uses the complete LT1 engine, drivetrain and main suspension components from a '94 C4 Corvette donor vehicle. The rest of the car was designed and built by the team and its subcontractors.
Like it? It's for sale! The team plans to auction the car off on its website in the near future, so they can get started on another project car. Lots more pics after the jump.
[Source: GDT via The Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gunnar Heinrich 7:22AM (4/06/2006)
I think that it's very interesting that these engineers should use a former GM model rather than one of Blue oval's. Why not have used a Mustang for the job?
http://www.automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com
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Sal 7:40AM (4/06/2006)
Five years and it looks like a bad kit car. If the car were purple the front end would look like Barney.
I hope they don't apply for work anywhere else!
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Elliott 7:59AM (4/06/2006)
Hideous
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GrowUp 8:19AM (4/06/2006)
It takes five years to decontent a Corvette to the point it could be on Hardcastle & McCormick. Interesting.
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Puff Chippy 8:34AM (4/06/2006)
Man, that is one uuuugly kit car.
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d 8:43AM (4/06/2006)
No wonder they are EX FORD engineers...good for ford!
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Dane 8:48AM (4/06/2006)
I would rather have the '94 vette.
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Arlen Phillip Suter 8:51AM (4/06/2006)
Nice effort. I love the car until I get to the front end. They should have went for a Ferrari inspired look, instead I think they chose Studebaker. I wonder what the performance numbers are?
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Yayaja 8:53AM (4/06/2006)
I'd rather have the 'vette.
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Jeff the Baptist 8:57AM (4/06/2006)
"Built as an engineering and design exercise, free of 'the bureaucratic encumbrances of a large corporation,'"
Evidently it is free of the bonds of good taste as well.
If anything this car looks like a vindication of the blue oval's internal bureaucratic encumberances. The designers were finally free of them and built a cheap-looking kitcar nobody wants. Way to show Ford, guys.
"Why not have used a Mustang for the job?"
Because the mustang is, at heart, a pony car. Sure Ford can put a really big engine in it and call the Cobra a corvette competitor, but it really isn't. The two are in different segments. Now Mustang vs. GTO/Camaro is something else again.
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Mike 9:14AM (4/06/2006)
I actually like what they did with the rear end... I think that the rear bonnet would be a great addition to a C4 wanting to stand out. I love the view that shows the rear suspension.
I also think that the dash section housing the guages is pretty tastefull.
Overall though, UGLY. I can see 5 weeks of work, possibly even five months of work. Five years?
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Yayaja 9:20AM (4/06/2006)
Did anyone notice the headrests are bolted to the trunk lid? Wouldn't it be a little uncomfortable to feel the vibrations of a supposedly sport tuned suspenision through the back of your head? Then again, maybe this is just the kind of vibration that will make you dumb enough to think the car is nice.
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Rusty 9:57AM (4/06/2006)
Hideous.
They used a Corvette instead of a Mustang because the Mustang chassis makes a terrible sports car. Weak, flexible, heavy and very poor suspension geometry. Mustangs are designed to be affordable, not for performance. It would be easier to stsrt from scratch than from a Mustang chassis. BTW I own a Mustang Cobra and like it a lot but it is no sports car.
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Lucas 10:23AM (4/06/2006)
can anyone say Ferrari Rosa concept? I see it too clearly.
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Tom Design 10:30AM (4/06/2006)
This is a unique to the U.S. style of car modification, and an acquired taste. The design isn't for peeps who like their safe Camry's and conservative Audi shape or even the new Mustang, all nice styles. The roadster was often a modified Model A (or sometimes T) that was devoid of lights, bumpers, sometimes even windshield, mirrors, even fenders and hoods, to give the lightest body possible. The suspension was usually beefed up while lowered a lot, and larger than normal tires put on it. Then, the engine tweaks were outrageous. This car is a classically styled, gorgeous piece of modern history, and I love it! These are REAL car enthusiasts' automobiles, not for your average Prius and Scion and Aveo drivers. Take a look at a gorgeous original from the 30's:
http://www.kustom.net/swapmeet/images/alpackard.jpg
The old car geezers i know enjoy the aenemic 110hp Civics and Corollas they see on the streets, modified by todays' teenage and early 20's boiz. The memory of tweaking their cars into roadsters stirs when they see the coffee can coming out of the rear of a rice burner, a Saleen decal on a Scion, and it's just true love of cars carrying on.
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Frank Tate 11:05AM (4/06/2006)
First and foremost, unBELIEVABLY ugly.
I can see several influences: the front nose is similar to a 1970's era Avanti (at least from eye-level; from street level it looks like the mouth of a big, fat whale shark); the shot of the rear taillights looks like a failed Ferrari experiment (though the exposed suspension is a nice touch); the door area looks like a new Viper. I can imagine how someone could think that the sum of these pieces would be greater than the individual parts. However, they were wrong. It's just butt ugly.
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SleighBoy 11:15AM (4/06/2006)
One look at that front end had me thinking "Fiero", or maybe a boy scout pinewood derby car.
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Corey W. 11:36AM (4/06/2006)
I agree that is BUTT ugly, I've seen better kit cars than that. I would not admit it took 5 years to create that. If this was the best they can do, I can see why they are no longer at Ford.
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jscro 12:13PM (4/06/2006)
It looks like a bad kit car with a nice paint job. Horrible.
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Aaron 12:20PM (4/06/2006)
They must have been engineers and not designers. That thing is hideous. Is that a parking break, a gear box, or an erect penis?
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