Gestation of a GT500: Lead designer shares early sketches
Click above for high-res image gallery of early 2010 Shelby GT500 sketches
One of Ford's biggest buzz vehicles this auto show season has been the Mustang. From the debut of the redesigned 2010 model at the LA Auto Show last November to the reveal of the 2010 Shelby GT500 at the Detroit Auto Show last month, Ford has managed to steal back much of the muscle car spot light that's been occupied by the Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro for the last couple of years. The 540-hp Shelby GT500 is the new reigning king of production Mustangs, and one person more than any other is responsible for its visual transformation from family friendly Mustang GT to I'll-eat-your-children-without-chewing Shelby GT500. His name is Rob Jensen, and he earns points from this peanut gallery for keeping his own blog at RobJensenDesign.com. Jensen recently sat down with our friends at idsketching.com for an interview and revealed some salient details about the Mustang's design process, as well as offered advice for budding industrial designers. He also handed over a digital stack of early GT500 sketches that shows the design's gestation from a unique perspective. Check out the whole batch in our high-res gallery and let us know if you think that the GT500 unveiled in Detroit was the right one.
[Source: idsketching, robjensendesign]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
paul34 12:34PM (2/13/2009)
Nice try, but they already make a Chevy Camaro.
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Jrejre 12:35PM (2/13/2009)
This just goes to show how watered down cars get once they make it to production.
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Dustin 1:14PM (2/13/2009)
Exactly. What we see here is new and interesting, but what we got is more of the same old thing.
Torrent 1:31PM (2/13/2009)
They're early sketches... Was never a design standpoint.
geo.stewart 1:50PM (2/13/2009)
what these show is where the next gen can go.
if you look athe design studies from when they were planning for hte 93 version, they had the 'bruce jenner' version that they ultimately went with and there was an 'ahnold' version that eventually became the 99.
Dustin 1:51PM (2/13/2009)
Regardless of whatever you're saying, the production version of the '10 GT500 front end is nearly identical in design to its predecessor. Which is fine, it's just not new or unique. But if that's all they were going to do, why even bother with interesting new sketches?
Dustin 1:53PM (2/13/2009)
I hope you are right, geo.stewart. The car body in those sketches would make an excellent next-gen.
Rick 12:38PM (2/13/2009)
Nice work. Too bad these guys waste their time when the production model will be sooooo toned down :(
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xxxxxxx 12:59PM (2/13/2009)
Rick,
Waste their time??
These guys, they dont just do sketches buddy.
This was the begininig to a very long and challenging process.
I
Sea Urchin 12:39PM (2/13/2009)
wow, looks amazing.
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why not the LS2LS7? 12:40PM (2/13/2009)
Isn't that a two-door version of the new VW vehicle?
These sketches might as well come from Ed Roth. They bear no relationship to anything.
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Wyce 12:41PM (2/13/2009)
Interesting that a good portion of the sketches have hatch-like rears.
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Sea Urchin 12:48PM (2/13/2009)
Could it be because many sports cars are hatches, Lambos, WRX-STI, GT-R
xpolarx 12:59PM (2/13/2009)
GTR is not a hatch. And I wouldn't really call the Gallardo and the Murcielago hatches either, since the engine is under there.
MikeofLA 1:08PM (2/13/2009)
I believe that is called a "Fastback"
jon 4:04PM (2/13/2009)
it would be cool to see the next mustang take some inspiration from the shelby GR1 concept... maybe thats what they were trying to do with the fastback look.
Ligor 12:55PM (2/13/2009)
I like pic #4
#3 is too close to a 370Z, #1 and #2 not there yet
and the sketches had some nice ideas
wounder if companies like Kia might want to hold on to some of them
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wrayRAY 12:56PM (2/13/2009)
*2
MikeofLA 1:06PM (2/13/2009)
Were'nt we talking about the dramatic changes that occur from sketch to production just yesterday with the VW sedan...
Any way, looks awesome here, won't happen though.
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EXP Jawa 1:25PM (2/13/2009)
Well, I guess we know where KITT's Attack Mode came from now...
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