2007 Ford Shelby GR-1

It shimmers in the studio like liquid mercury, the light flowing effortlessly across the highly polished aluminum panels. Long, long hood, hip-high roofline, cabin set hard back against the rear wheels, stubby Kamm tail--it hits all the right hot buttons with a collection of cues straight out of Sports Car Design 101. We've seen the shape before, in the form of a full-size silver-painted clay model unveiled at last year's Pebble Beach Concours. But not like this. In gloriously naked metal, with a real interior and, soon, a real running engine, Ford's Shelby GR-1 is, quite simply, drop-dead gorgeous.

But is the GR-1 the real deal? Or just another Detroit show-pony? Well, it's built on exactly the same chassis as the Cobra roadster unveiled at the 2004 Detroit show, which means it uses a lot of ready-made suspension and chassis hardware from the mid-engine Ford GT, plus the Cobra's thundering 6.4-liter, 605-horsepower V-10 and six-speed manual transmission. Ford execs admitted the Cobra was production feasible. Ask the inevitable about the GR-1, and Dearborn insiders will say, yes, it could also be built. But they insist no decision on a production version has been made.

It sounds like the usual PR spin that surrounds any number of concept cars. But what if we told you Ford has done a full engineering feasibility study on the car? If Ford management presses the go button, a production version of the GR-1 would get a new chassis with the wheelbase stretched almost three inches to accommodate a 20-gallon fuel tank between the seats and the rear shock towers. The A-pillars would be pulled slightly more upright and the roof raised 1.6 inches to move the front-header rail away from the occupants' heads to meet safety regulations. And the show car's V-10 will be replaced by the oft-rumored 7.0-liter "Hurricane" V-8 pumping out more than 600 horsepower and more than 500 pound-feet of torque.

Using the V-8 rather than the V-10 means marginally better weight distribution--47.6 percent front and 52.4 percent rear versus 48.3 percent front and 52.4 percent rear. You only have to look at the cars the GR-1's engineers are using as benchmarks--Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Mercedes SLR McLaren, both of which have rear-set front engines--to see where they're heading in terms of handling. Target weight for the production version is 3450 to 3550 pounds (the GT weighs 3480 pounds), and the key performance targets are 0-to-60 mph in under 3.9 seconds, 0-to-100 mph in under 8.0, and a standing quarter mile in better than 11.9 at 126. Yeah, it's going to be fast.

It looks stunning, has the right hardware, and carries the legendary Shelby name. If you have an ounce of gasoline in your veins, you're probably already wondering how you can sell the kids and raid the 401K to raise the ready cash. So what's stopping Ford? "We still haven't made a business case for this thing," insists Ford design chief J Mays. "We've made the announcement that we have a relationship with Carroll, that we're going to put his name on a couple of products--and I'm sure you can guess what the other one might be," he adds with a big grin. Uh, that wouldn't be the Shelby Mustang, would it, J?