2006 Ford GTX1 Convertible
The resulting car looks fantastic. From the front, it is almost identical to the regular GT, but the rear end looks very different: slimmed down, it has a hint of Porsche 904 about it.The lower ride height also makes the car look more dramatic.
Inside, the X1 feels smaller than a stock GT, possibly because you notice how close your head actually is to the top of the windshield. At 70 or 80 mph, the airflow seems well managed, with no buffeting around the back of the cockpit. Put the windows down, though, and there's plenty of air flowing through the cabin, which is no bad thing on a glorious fall afternoon. The biggest difference in the way the two cars drive is aural: the regular GT's engine noise is almost too muted, to the extent that you hear the fuel injectors clacking away, whereas the GTX1 mixes a glorious, full-blooded V-8 roar from out back with a relatively muted supercharger whine closer to the cockpit.
Most GT owners won't go for the $38,000 X1 conversion, because it reduces the GT's sublime chassis poise. But more extroverted owners who live in the sunshine states might be tempted to swap some dynamic prowess for the additional posing appeal.
It seems a little sad that a company as large as Ford couldn't find the wherewithal to do this project in-house, but the GT project probably seems like old news to the recent arrivals in the company's upper management, because it's due to run its course at the end of 2006. In the near future, we don't expect to see anything else this exciting coming out of Ford, which makes Ewing's and Gerisch's handiwork that much more admirable.