JFR EXPANDS EFFORT WITH CASTROL EDGE TOP FUEL DRAGSTER

Rookie Brittany Force Gets Historic Opportunity in NHRA 

John Force Racing, Inc., NHRA drag racing’s most successful Funny Car team, announced Thursday an historic expansion that for the first time will give it a presence in a professional racing category other than the one in which it has been dominant for almost a quarter century.

 

While the team again will campaign four fuel cars, one will be noticeably different from the others.  After winning a record 217 NHRA Funny Car races and 17 Winston, Powerade and Full Throttle Funny Car championships, JFR this year for the first time in its 35-year NHRA history will field a Top Fuel dragster sponsored by Castrol EDGE and driven by 26-year-old rookie Brittany Force.

 

Meanwhile, Force confirmed that he will be re-united this season in his pursuit of the Mello Yello Funny Car championship with crew chief Mike Neff.  He will be joined by daughter Courtney who, after earning Rookie-of-the-Year honors, will be back in the Traxxas Ford for crew chiefs Ron Douglas and Dan Hood, and son-in-law Robert Hight, who will start his ninth season in the Auto Club Ford for Jimmy Prock and new assistant crew chief Danny DeGennaro.

 

Get Your Heart Racing With a One-of-One 2013 Ford Shelby GT500

A designer’s labor of love, a "one-of-one" 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 will be offered on Friday, Jan. 18, at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.  The auction will be televised on Speed TV.

The car has been signed by Edsel B. Ford II, William C. Ford, Jr., and Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company.

The Mustang is the creation of Ford designer Melvin Betancourt, a former cardiac patient who feels that he owes his life to a dedicated team of heart surgeons at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. To show his appreciation for the care he received many years ago, Betancourt focused his talents on creating the special edition Shelby GT500 to benefit the Edith and Benson Ford Heart & Vascular Institute at the hospital.

Betancourt’s Shelby stays true to the spirit of the original, but with a modern, sophisticated level of performance and appearance. It is finished in a special white exterior paint scheme, with contrasting white graphics and 20” white wheels.

The racing-inspired cockpit features white leather Recaro seats with black stitching.

The Mustang has 662 horsepower, and a top speed of more than 200 mph. 

It is estimated that the car will sell between $150,000 and $250,000.

For more information on the auction, registering to bid, or program details on Speed TV, visit www.barrett-jackson.com.

CADILLAC CONCEPT CARS STAR TO APPEAR AT THE AMELIA CONCOURS d’ELEGANCE

There are limited production cars, there are rare cars and there are concept cars that never find their way to the showroom.  A fleet of Cadillac’s rare and mythic Motorama and Detroit Auto Show Concept Cars will take to the field at the 18^th Annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance on Sunday March 10, 2013.

Created under the supervision of GM’s legendary styling chief, Harley Earl, the Cadillac Concept cars of the ‘Fifties were created as the stars of GM’s Motorama shows. All are blood ancestors of the contemporary Cadillac Cien and Cadillac Sixteen Concept Cars of the 21^st century. Many were created not to be driven, but only to be shown and crushed. Some early cars were sold to GM executives, celebrities, or people of influence. Happily, orders to destroy these spectacular harbingers of the future were often ignored or outright disobeyed.

Unlike many show cars of the Fifties, Cadillac’s Motorama Concept Cars carried the future in their lines, options, trim and colors. The quad headlights of the 1955 Cadillac El Dorado Brougham Concept Car were GM’s first use of the four headlight format that became standard GM styling practice in 1957.  The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone featured sliding doors, predating the design nexus of all minivans.

Nine of Cadillac’s Concept Cars will be featured in the 18^th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance; the 1949 Cadillac Fleetwood Coupe De Ville prototype, two 1953 Le Mans roadsters, 1953 El Dorado Special,  1956 Eldorado Brougham Town Car, 1959 Cyclone, 1961 El Dorado Chicago Auto Show car once owned by pro golfer Walter Hagen, the 2002 Cien, and the massive, 1000-horsepower 2003 Cadillac Sixteen.

“’Standard of the World’ is not simply a Cadillac slogan or the product of some ad copywriter’s imagination,” said Amelia Concours Founder and Chairman Bill Warner. “It is an honor and a title bestowed upon Cadillac in 1909 by the Royal Automobile Club when a trio of Cadillacs won the RAC’s Dewer Trophy, the Nobel Prize of the automotive world.” 

The Cadillacs were driven from London to the Brooklands race track, disassembled (with their parts scattered and intermingled with other random parts), reassembled and driven 500 trouble free miles. It was an unrivaled international engineering and manufacturing feat that set Cadillac on its course to be an industry leader.

“Cadillac’s dedication to precision and technological leadership has been part of their corporate DNA since the company was founded in 1902. That spirit is personified in Cadillac’s concept cars. They’re not just interesting styling exercises. They’re important for the entire automotive industry,” said Warner.

The 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held March 8 -10^th on the 10^th and 18^th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach adjacent to The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.  The show’s Foundation has donated over $2 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. and other charities on Florida’s First Coast since its inception in 1996.

SPEED™ to GIVE AWAY ONE-OF-A-KIND, 800+ HORSEPOWER 2013 SHELBY GT500 MUSTANG

LIVE BARRETT-JACKSON COVERAGE FULLY INTERACTIVE LED BY HAGERTY FANTASY BID & SPEED SOCIAL GARAGE

        An all-black, one-of-a-kind, 800+ horsepower 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang HFB Special Edition is this year’s Hagerty Fantasy Bid giveaway grand prize, a part of SPEED’s 39 hours of live coverage from the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event and Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz. that starts Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

            Game play begins Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and lasts through Sunday, Jan. 20 with 28 fantasy bid cars selected to cross the block throughout the weekend.

            It’s easy to enter, as any Hagerty Fantasy Bid contestant who places a fantasy bid is automatically eligible for the giveaway Mustang (sign-up information below). A random drawing from all fantasy bid entries throughout the four days of competition determines the winner, which concludes on Sunday, Jan. 20.

            As with each Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event and Auction on SPEED, fantasy bidding is only a portion of the interactive and digital opportunities throughout any one of these live auction events. The SPEED Social Garage, live streaming video, live blogging, photo galleries and SPEED.com’s up-to-the-minute coverage of the market and trend lines offer the audience a unique two-screen experience.

            “How phenomenal is it that Ford was able to top last year’s incredible one-of-one Shelby giveaway,” said Rick Miner, SPEED SVP of Production, Network Operations & Executive Producer of Barrett-Jackson. “I’m thinking about quitting my job just so I can enter the contest.”

            Besides its jaw-dropping horsepower numbers, the Shelby GT500 HFB Special Edition is loaded with performance and aesthetic upgrades. A full Ford Racing lowering kit, Hydraulic Hood struts and Shelby Wheel Company’s Nitto 20x9.5 front and 20x11 Drag Radial rear tires gives it one mean profile.

            Interior-wise; the custom-made front and rear seats feature black suede inserts, black carbon fiber stripes and blue stitching all combining for an attractive outward appeal, while still maintaining Ford’s firm, yet comfortable, driver support structure.

            Full-length stainless steel headers with high-flow catalytic converters, a Borla exhaust system, high-flow air filter and an Ice Nine modified air intake (adding 30 bhp) all increases efficiency, power and enhances the sound of this enticing package.

           

            Adding to the overall look is W2 Graphics’ flat black stripe kit, RTR’s rear license plate surround and Ice Nine’s side splitters and smoked lens kit. Also included are a custom billet antenna, 3D carbon fender scoops, custom quarter window scoops, quarter panel scoops, billet aluminum Hagerty Fantasy Bid badging and a laser etched, Hagerty logoed gas cap that signifies a Special Edition Mustang.

            On the interactive side, one can join the Barrett-Jackson conversation through the SPEED Social Garage located athttp://www.speedtv.com/programs/barrett-jackson-automobile-auction/barrett-jackson-social-garage or via Twitter by using the ‘#BJA2013’ hash tag and @BarrettOnSPEED handle.

Hot Rod Magazine Live Guest Update: M&H Slicks

Make sure to tune into Hot Rod Magazine Live this weekend to hear from our friends at M&H. M&H slicks were voted by Hot Rod Magazine as one of the top 10 most significant speed parts of all time and Eric Gullett will help us check out the current M&H product mix including over 120 different tires ranging from DOT to full race….tuner & imports to gassers & top fuel M&H has a tire for almost any application. 

Tune in this Saturday 1-3pm PST - Find Station information at http://www.radioamerica.org as well as the LIVE STREAM. You can also be part of the show by calling 1.800.510.8255

Circle Track Radio Guest Update: AR Bodies Sammy Sanders

This weekends broadcast of Circle Track Radio will be joined by Sammy Sanders of AR Bodies/Aluminum Racing Products to talk about bodies for your ASA Challenge, Truck, Mid-Am, Sportsman, Modified Open Wheel, ISCARS divisions. They also offer a full line of Sportsman Bodies including steel or aluminum body panels, Caprice and 88 Monte Carlo Plastic noses and rear bumper covers. Accessories include Duct Work, Fender braces, Windshields, Grill Screens, Naca Ducts, Braces, Wings, Graphics kits and templates.

Sammy will also dive into the art of design and wind tunnel work that goes into the engineering of what can be one more advantage to put you in the winners circle. 

Tune in this Saturday 1-3pm PST - Find Station information at http://www.radioamerica.org as well as the LIVE STREAM. You can also be part of the show by calling 1.800.510.8255

BARRETT-JACKSON TO SELL RARE ‘67 SHELBY GT500 SURVIVOR CAR AT NO RESERVE AT UPCOMING SCOTTSDALE AUCTION

One of the rarest Shelby Mustangs in the world, a survivor ’67 GT500 (Lot  5024) will be sold at No Reserve during the 2013 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., on January 19, 2013. With only 9,841 miles on the odometer, it may be the lowest mileage ‘67 GT500 in existence.   

The Shelby is owned by Stephen Becker, president and CEO of Planet Cobra. He specializes in offering 1965 – 1970 Shelby Mustangs to clients internationally. He and Shelby expert Jim Cowles will be on-site to answer questions about the car and meet with individuals and discuss the vintage Shelby market.

“This car was one of the first GT500’s ever produced by Shelby American,” said Becker. “From its design and performance to its heritage and history, there’s truly nothing like it. It is a testament to the uniqueness of this special survivor Shelby that Barrett-Jackson will feature it as they honor Carroll Shelby this year.”

Barrett-Jackson plans to honor the late Mr. Shelby, who died in May 2012, with a party commemorating what would have been his 90^th birthday on January 11. From the gala to an amazing group of the most desirable Shelby cars that will cross the block, the Scottsdale event will honor the automotive legend.

“Carroll Shelby was an American icon whose influence will continue to shape the automotive landscape for years,” stated Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson. “The’67 Shelby GT500’s were a major milestone for Shelby American with its big block power and larger platform. Low-mileage survivor cars like this one from Stephen Becker, who is a recognized Shelby expert, are often cited as desirable collectibles. Not only do they provide a way to keep Carroll Shelby’s legacy alive, they are important pieces of history.”

The car has an intriguing history. In 1966, Edward Milkos decided to order the ’67 Shelby for drag racing.  After the car was delivered on February 27, 1967, he spent the next two years competing in races. Unfortunately, his amateur racing career ended when he suffered a serious injury. By the time Milkos healed, fuel prices had raised dramatically and the car was stored in his basement.

Thirty years later, Milkos traded in the Shelby for a late model car. This GT500 is a Nightmist Blue with black interior, a color combination highly desired by collectors. It is loaded with a 428 Police Interceptor engine and a dual four-barrel carburetion. The car has its original paint, wheel, tires and drive-train. It includes all original documentation including New Jersey license plates and a 1970 inspection sticker.

Displayed at the Shelby Headquarters in Las Vegas, the GT500 went on tour in 2010. It was one of 20 vehicles invited to the Shelby tribute at the Quail in Monterey and appeared at the SAAC convention.

“This original, unrestored, well documented, all-matching numbers vehicle is one of the rarest Shelby’s ever built,” noted Becker. “This low mileage Shelby still has its original engine, transmission and rear end. I hope that it will go to someone who will understand and appreciate its value. It would certainly be the crown jewel of any collection.”

Planet Cobra is the most trusted resource for buying and selling genuine Shelby’s today. The company has been in the business for over 30 years and has access to unlimited contacts, databases and insider information that can help enthusiasts buy or sell a Shelby Cobra or Mustang at the best possible price.

Stephen Becker, well-known and respected Shelby expert, is one of the most prolific authorities on Shelby vehicles. His expertise and in-depth knowledge has been tapped by clients to purchase, consign and restore original Shelbys. Becker has been retained by key auto groups and leaders to authenticate and value Shelby cars. More information is available at www.goplanetcobra.com