From Autoweek earlier today.
When we last checked on Ford’s Special Vehicle Team, the guys running Dearborn’s in-house tuner shop were gung-ho on what was to come. Then-Ford product creation veep Phil Martens, backed by then-brand-new SVT chief Hau Thai-Tang, promised a five-vehicle SVT lineup produced by a larger-than-ever SVT team. They also said the next-generation Cobra would be the “best one ever.”
Since that interview some 13 months ago, it appears the only constants are that Thai-Tang remains director of SVT (along with advance product creation duties), and SVT still plans to put a 2007 Shelby Cobra GT500 on the street by this summer. Martens is gone, which does nothing to encourage SVT fans already shell-shocked by the late 2004 departure of longtime SVT guru John Coletti. SVT’s discrete team is now just another part of Ford’s product creation mother ship.
Effective July 1, the SVT Owners Association will fold into Ford Racing Technology and become a club for all Ford performance vehicles; content from the SVTOA bi-monthly magazine, SVT Enthusiast, will now appear in Ford Racing’s Inside the Oval monthly publication.
Ford is still promising the GT500 will be “the strongest production Mustang ever”—though we’re not sure why it would go to the trouble if the car isn’t going to be better than Cobras past.
Besides the Shelby Cobra promise, Ford spokesman Jim Cain says there are no product announcements for SVT at this time, though he assures “we have a number of SVT projects we’re working to get off the ground.”
One of those won’t be the planned 2008 Adrenalin Sport-Trac-based pickup, a casualty of Ford executive vice president Mark Fields’ “Way Forward” restructuring announced in January (The Way For’d, AW, Jan. 30). It also remains unclear whether Ford has the stomach to resurrect the stillborn F-150 SVT Lightning after killing a promised next-gen Lightning in late 2004. After all, the competition from up the road in Auburn Hills, Michigan, now offers something with a V10 underhood.
Published reports suggest Ford burned all its SVT resources creating the non-SVT-badged Ford GT supercar in record time so that Bill Ford could have a showpiece for the company’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2003. Based on the lukewarm assurances we get from official Ford sources, and the downright dour tones we’re hearing from the unofficial ones, we’d say SVT’s chances of surviving—at least in the form enthusiasts have come to love since its inception in 1992—are on life support.
But that doesn’t mean Ford won’t produce some hot performance products.
“Are performance vehicles important to Ford?” asks spokes-man Cain. “Absolutely and without question. Will there be performance vehicles after the Shelby? Absolutely and without question.”
But will we see SVT-branded performance products in the future that rival those from the brand’s short but storied past? “There’s equity in that name and we want to use it,” says Cain.
Okay, but don’t get upset if we mark the calendar and check back in another 12 months or so.
Source: Automotive News
Editors Note: The image above is the SVT Lightning concept based on the new F150 platform. Ford showed this off at car shows in 2003, then cancelled the Lightning for good.
My 2003 SVT Cobra broke down on the freeway due to a supercharger air bubble or some crap and had to be towed to a Ford Dealer. 2 Months later I took it in to Ford because of a knock and tick in the motor. It was under warranty but Ford would not repair it because they said it was not bad enough to repair. Well guess what Ford, yep, it is worse not and sitting in my garage. I have written Ford and they must be real busy because I have not heard from them. But now it is out of warranty, bet they will open her up now.
I have always purchased Ford products and this is the service I get. Thanks.
By James Cunningham. June 20th, 2006 at 9:29 pmI want a Hi-po 500 with a large turbo, and intercooler and 6 speed manual - Owned a 93 SHO and loved it , esp when you could get a manual tranny–
By Woody. March 26th, 2006 at 8:04 amYep more ford performance is a good thing. It just seems they got rid of all of it but the mustang. Guess I’ll move to australia. (j/K)
By 19mach69. March 24th, 2006 at 9:22 pmNon-svt things are ok, all we really want is a perforamnce ford.
Look at the old sho’s. Those things were awesome!
By Matt. March 24th, 2006 at 8:30 pmSee, I told ya so.
By WILDO. March 23rd, 2006 at 1:45 pm