Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Foose Terracuda

Only Chip Foose could make brown look so good. The story goes that one of his customers brought in a Breitling watch and asked Chip to make his car the same color. This was the result, a 1970 Plymouth Barrauda painted in Terracuda Brown with California Gold stripes, both of which are part of Foose's new line of paints developed with BASF. The Terracuda is much more than just the paint, however, and is up to the high standard that is common among all Foose vehicles. The unibody of the original car was removed and replaced with a custom frame designed by Chip and built by Art Carr, and every panel of the car has been changed in some way. The front axle has been moved forward three inches to create less of an overhang, and the rear bumper has been cut down and tucked in. Under the hood is Mopar's 392ci crate engine that is mated to a Tremec 5-speed transmission and a Ford 9-inch rear end. The interior is completely custom as well, with Ferrari leather covering carbon fiber seats. Last of all, a set of Foose-designed wheels were added and painted to match the rest of the car.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Foose Coupe.

With the complete and utter collapse of Unique Performance, we were wondering who would be taking over the sales and marketing for the Foose Coupe. Not to worry, because Superformance Distribution of Irvine, CA has picked up the reigns and recently delivered its first car through its Hillbank Motor Corporation dealership. This is just the fourth Foose Coupe produced, after the green and black prototypes at the 2006 SEMA show and the first publicly available car that was auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson's Palm Beach auction last year. The owner opted for the 392ci Hemi V8 pumping out around 500 horsepower, and a custom paint scheme featuring carbon fiber spears surrounded by flames hand painted by Chip Foose himself. Check out all the amazing details of this incredible coupe in our huge photo gallery below.

[Source: Superformance Distribution]

Foose Design and the man for which the company is named, Chip Foose, announced last Friday that it is severing all ties with Unique Performance. The Dallas-based company had agreements with Foose to produce the Foose Mustang Stallion (pictured), Foose Camaro, Foose Challenger and Foose Motorcycle, as well as handle the sales and marketing for the Hemisfear. The break up comes after Shelby ended its relationship with the Unique last month, and a police raided Unique's facility last week for suspected title washing. Foose Design wants to let its customers know that it now has no affiliation whatsoever with Unique Performance, and that Unique does not have any rights to anything regarding Foose for any project. Follow the jump for the official press release from Foose Design.

[Source: Foose Design]

The most entertaining part of this video, by far, is the stupid ad-libbed "purr" from the newscaster at the end, as they go to banter before the probable throw to the weather. That's what newscasters do when the story is done, say some insipid crap, then toss to the meteorologist to segue from drivel to forecast. Oh yeah, there are cars in the video, too. Very cool cars. Under construction cars, in a super nice custom shop. From inauspicious beginnings assaulting Ferraris with Sawzalls, Metalcrafters has grown into a nearly 200-person operation that builds hot one-offs like Jay Leno's Eco-Jet, customizes production cars, and builds prototypes for the likes of Chrysler. There are some great shots of the Foose Hemisfear under construction, too. It's always intriguing to see how "real" custom cars go together, so we were watching close to crib any techniques we could. Now, where do we send our application?

Check the video after the jump.

[Source: KNBC]

click above image to see 38 desktop wallpaper-sized pics of the Foose F-150

Ford currently lacks a high-performance truck offering, and Chip Foose's relationship with the Dearborn manufacturer has strengthened in recent months. The combination of these two elements are seemingly all that was necessary to create the Chip Foose F-150, a supercharged four-door pickup that carries a healthy dose of performance and style without impacting its ability to carry stuff.

Lowered only two inches to retain a reasonable payload and towing capacity, the low-slung appearance is enhanced by the use of rocker panel extensions. 22-inch, six-spoke one-piece wheels, stripes and a custom grille give the truck that unmistakable Foose appearance, and of course the interior gets a few customs touches of its own.

The real story, though, is the 450-hp supercharged Triton 5.4L that resides under the hood. Or perhaps it calls someplace else home, for we couldn't find a blower under the hood of the sample on display in New York. Regardless, it's supposed to impart the Foose F-150 with acceleration that surpasses even the departed second-gen Lightning, which means it'll indeed be a damn quick vehicle.

Check out our gallery for more live shots of the Foose F-150, as well as previously unseen official shots, and there's a boatload of New York Auto Show coverage to be found elsewhere on Autoblog.

Ford Motor Company will make it possible for the masses to do just that as it has worked out a deal with legendary hot rodder Chip Foose to produce a limited number of very special vehicles to be sold in Ford showrooms across the US beginning in 2007.

Ford will not disclose which models or in what numbers the vehicles will be produced, but you can bet the Mustang will be one of them. One thing is for sure; they will all be very, very cool.

Chip Foose has produced a number of vehicles for Ford Motor Company, some of which are currently on the floor at SEMA. With the opportunity to "overhaul" some of the other models in the Ford lineup, Chip should be able to generate some showroom traffic and help get buyers back in the mood.

[Source: motorauthority.com]

SEMA may have been overrun with sport compacts and speaker boxes years ago, but the hot rod still rules and the Foose Hemisfear found at the DaimlerChrysler display is one of the best we've seen this trip. It's a car that's captivating from every angle. From the exposed carbon fiber to the glass-top roof to the completely exposed steering and braking hardware that's polished brighter than your grandma's Sunday silver, the Hemisfear will not let you break eye-contact until you've inspected every inch of it. Eventually you'll find your way to the rear where Chrysler's new HEMI 392 crate motor resides amidship under the aforementioned glass top roof. The engine itself is a work of art, though its 500 horsepower and 472 ft-lbs. of torque are meant for more than just display. What's unusual about the Hemisfear compared to most of the other cars at SEMA is that you can actually buy it. It will be sold as unfinished kit from Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters. In fact, this particular one is under private ownership.

You would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't check out the Hemisfear gallery after the jump.

The '71 Challenger that Chip Foose whipped into shape on TLC's "Overhaulin'" TV show back in 2004 must have been a big hit, because Foose is partnering with Texas-based Unique Performance to build a limited production run of Challengers based on the TV version.

The limited edition muscle cars will be quite a bit more capable than the TV car, featuring either 347 cid or 426 cid HEMI powerplants, married to a TKO 5-speed transmission driving through a Unique Performance Parts rear suspension. The updated '70 or '71 Challengers will roll on 18-inch versions of the TV car's 19- and 20-inch Foose wheels (a take-off on MoPar's classic "Rallye" rims), backed by Wilwood disk brakes front and rear.

Foose and Unique Performance have teamed up on a variety of limited production pony cars, including the Foose '69 Camaro and various Mustangs. The Challenger will be launch in July.

[via Autoweek]