Galpin Auto Sports Reveals 1000-hp GTR1

As you read this, Beau Boeckmann of Galpin Auto Sports should be pulling the cover off the GTR1, a 1000-hp supercar based on the Ford GT. Right about now the 3000 guests of The Quail should be oohing and ahhing at the car's Aston Martin “lightning silver” paint and subtly muscled haunches, probably hearing about how G.A.S. swapped out the supercharger on the 5.4-liter V8 and replaced it with twin 61-mm turbochargers making almost double the horsepower of the stock car. And, if all goes well, a few attendees just might be talking about placing orders with G.A.S. for their own 1000-hp GTR-1s.

Or 1024 hp and 739 lb ft of torque at the flywheel to be exact.

“But it's capable of 1250 hp,” Galpin Auto Sports manager Steve Carpenter told us a couple days earlier when we saw the finished car at G.A.S.

And that's on 91 octane, by the way. Put 100 octane gas in the tank and the engine will make 1197 hp and 887 lb-ft. When the car was on the dyno using all 18 pounds of boost from the turbos the it hit a simulated 196 mph with the engine spinning at 7200 rpm. Top speed is listed on the spec sheet at a theoretical “225-plus.” We like the plus.

“I wanna be the first one to take it up to 200 mph on the 210,” said Carpenter, referring to the nearby 210 freeway.

Hey, we'd like to try that, too, but maybe at Bonneville or someplace.

The GTR1 got its start about two years ago as a private project by a guy who liked the Shelby GR-1 show car and wanted to take it further. He had the artisans at Metalcrafters working on it. You can still see a lot of GR-1 in the rear three quarter view of this car. About 18 months ago Metalcrafters approached Galpin.

“Metalcrafters came to us and said, 'How would you like to build a supercar?” said Boeckmann.

Why yes, yes, we would, Boeckmann said.

And so they did, Galpin Auto Sports' first coach-built supercar.

“So we said, 'Let's use the GR-1 as inspiration and then see what would be the future of the Ford GT if it were to continue in production.”

That future is shown here, five inches wider and a lot more muscly. It's what Boeckmann calls “futuring,” imagining the lineage of a car when the manufacturer has stopped production.

Designer Chris Ito penned most of the lines you see here, while Boeckmann and team did the front end and the interior.

The body on this car is made of aluminum, but any production vehicles (more on that in a minute) will be carbon fiber. Why?

“Aluminum bodies are unbelievably expensive to make,” said Boeckmann.

This aluminum body was made by hand at Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley, which also made all the glass and lighting. The carbon fiber bodies will be made from molds cast off the car's clay styling buck.

How much will all this cost (assuming you go with carbon fiber)? As Dr. Evil once said, pinky raised just so, “One million dollars!”

Or a little more. The exact price is officially $1,024,000, or, as you math types have already deduced, one thousand dollars per horsepower. That includes the donor car, by the way.

The drivetrain and in fact all the mechanicals except the turbochargers and intercoolers are stock Ford GT.

“They're solid,” said Carpenter.

The 19-inch front and 18-inch rear forged aluminum knock off wheels we saw when we visited the G.A.S. shop were made specially for this car by Metalcrafters and wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza RE 050As measuring 345/35 rear and 265/30 front. Tread wear rating was a remarkably sticky 140. "Production" models will have 20-inch wheels front and rear.

Stopping those wheels - and the rest of the car - are an amazing set of carbon-carbon discs – 16.625-inch fronts and 14-inches rear - with six-piston Brembo calipers in front and four-piston rears. We held one of the discs and it was in fact light, especially compared to the iron disc we hefted right after.

“Get a good grip on it,” a G.A.S. technician warned about the iron.

As you might imagine with that delicate aluminum bodywork, no one has driven the GTR1 yet. Boeckmann wanted it to arrive at The Quail - and later on the concept lawn at Pebble Beach - without any dings. But with an estimated curb weight of 3000 pounds and a weight balance of 51/49, not to mention 1024 hp, it should be fun to drive.

Now if we can just round up $1,024,000…

By Mark Vaughn