Tag Archives: Ford

NEW CARS

CAV GT MkII Is the GT40 Reimagined for the 21st Century

The original Ford GT40 wasn’t built to be civilized. It was engineered for one purpose: crushing Ferrari at Le Mans. More than half a century later, South African manufacturer Cape Advanced Vehicles believes that legendary formula deserves another chapter—not as a museum-piece replica, but as a thoroughly modern supercar.

Meet the CAV GT MkII.

Built in Cape Town by a company that has spent decades crafting GT40-inspired machines, the new GT MkII moves beyond the realm of tribute cars. CAV describes it as a spiritual successor to Ford’s endurance-racing icon, and the spec sheet backs up that ambitious claim. While the silhouette remains unmistakably GT40, nearly everything beneath the skin has been reimagined for the modern era.

At first glance, the GT MkII wears its heritage proudly. The low nose, muscular rear haunches, and mid-engine proportions immediately recall the car that conquered Le Mans in the 1960s. Look closer, however, and the details reveal a far more contemporary machine. Sharper LED lighting gives the front end a more aggressive expression, while the rear bodywork is cleaner and more sculpted than anything seen on the original racer.

The biggest visual difference is one that owners will appreciate every time they climb aboard. Unlike the famously cramped GT40—which earned its name from its 40-inch overall height—the GT MkII has grown taller. That extra space translates into a more usable cabin, additional cargo capacity, and swan-wing doors that improve entry and exit without requiring the roof-cutting door design of the original car.

Beneath the carbon-fiber bodywork sits an aluminum-and-carbon structure that helps keep weight to around 3,240 pounds (1,470 kilograms). Nestled behind the occupants is where things get truly interesting.

Power comes from a 4.2-liter V8 fitted with not one but two superchargers. The result is more than 800 horsepower and a towering 679 pound-feet (920 Nm) of torque. More impressive still is the claimed 9,000-rpm redline, placing the engine’s character closer to an exotic race-bred powerplant than a traditional American V8.

Performance figures are predictably outrageous. CAV claims the GT MkII can sprint from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 3.0 seconds before pushing beyond 203 mph (327 km/h).

Sending all that power to the pavement is a standard six-speed single-clutch semi-automatic transmission. While that setup may sound old-school in today’s dual-clutch world, CAV plans to offer a modern dual-clutch option in the future. More importantly for purists, a manual gearbox is also in development—a rarity in a segment increasingly dominated by paddle shifters.

The hardware underneath appears just as serious as the powertrain. KW Variant 4 three-way adjustable dampers provide extensive chassis tuning capability, while Brembo brakes with eight-piston front and four-piston rear calipers handle stopping duties. Buyers seeking maximum track performance can opt for carbon-ceramic brake discs. Completing the package is an Inconel exhaust system with active valves, ensuring the soundtrack matches the visual drama.

The CAV GT MkII occupies a fascinating niche in today’s performance-car landscape. It isn’t a continuation car, nor is it a retro replica chasing nostalgia. Instead, it takes one of motorsport’s most celebrated shapes and infuses it with modern materials, modern technology, all-wheel-drive traction, and supercar-rivaling performance.

If the original GT40 was designed to win endurance races, the GT MkII appears designed to answer a different question: What would a GT40 look like if it had never stopped evolving?

Source: Cape Advanced Vehicles

News

The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special Arrives

There’s something slightly rebellious about taking one of Ford Mustang’s most nostalgia-soaked badges and pasting it onto an all-electric crossover. But then again, rebellion has always been part of the Mustang brief. Now, with the arrival of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special, Ford Motor Company leans even harder into that contradiction—and somehow makes it work.

The California Special name dates back to 1968, when West Coast dealers gave the original Mustang a sun-kissed identity to match its booming sales in the Golden State. This time around, the vibe is less carburetors and chrome, more kilowatts and code—but the spirit remains intact. Think Pacific Coast Highway, just with fewer gas stops and more charging stations.

Visually, the GT/CS does just enough to stand out without screaming about it. The 20-inch Carbonised Grey wheels wear subtle GT/CS logos, while badges outlined in a new Rave Blue hue add a cool-toned contrast. The real centerpiece, though, is the hood stripe—a layered mix of grey, black, and blue, radiating outward like a stylized sunset melting into the ocean. It’s thematic, sure, but not overcooked.

Inside, Ford avoids the trap of trying to make “electric” feel sterile. Instead, the cabin leans into texture and tone. Performance seats trimmed in Navy Pier ActiveX and Miko material strike a balance between premium feel and real-world durability—this is synthetic upholstery that’s designed to be lived in, not tiptoed around. A reflective blue and silver stripe runs through the seats, while the same navy material wraps the steering wheel and center console, tying the look together in a way that feels cohesive rather than gimmicky.

Underneath the styling exercise, the broader Mach-E lineup gets meaningful tweaks. Premium Extended Range models now squeeze out a bit more efficiency thanks to lower rolling resistance tires, stretching range figures to as much as 555 km for all-wheel-drive versions and 615 km for rear-drive variants. It’s not a revolution, but in the EV world, incremental gains matter.

Safety tech also gets a boost. Ford’s Clear Exit Assist—essentially a digital lookout for cyclists, scooters, and unsuspecting pedestrians—joins the standard ADAS suite. It’s the kind of feature that sounds minor until it saves you from an awkward insurance claim or worse. Alongside it sits the usual alphabet soup of modern driver aids: adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist, blind-spot monitoring, and evasive steering support.

And then there’s Ford BlueCruise, the company’s hands-off, eyes-on highway driving system. Already a standout in the Mach-E, it continues to expand across Ford’s European lineup, hinting at a future where long-distance driving becomes less about effort and more about supervision.

Two new paint options—Race Red and the intriguingly named Adriatic Blue-Green—round out the updates, offering buyers a chance to either shout or subtly flex.

The Mach-E was always a controversial addition to the Mustang family, but editions like the GT California Special suggest Ford isn’t interested in playing it safe. Instead, it’s doubling down on the idea that heritage isn’t about clinging to the past—it’s about reinterpreting it. And if that reinterpretation happens to come with instant torque and a West Coast color palette, well, there are worse ways to evolve an icon.

Source: Ford

News

Ford Turns the F-150 into a Street Brawler

Ford knows its audience. Build a V8 with 480 horsepower and someone will ask for 580. Build 580 and someone will ask what it would take to see eight hundred. The answer, apparently, is a factory-backed supercharger kit with a warranty and a Blue Oval stamp on the box.

Through Ford Performance, the company has rolled out a dealer-installed, Whipple-developed 3.0-liter twin-screw supercharger package for any modern machine packing the 5.0-liter Coyote V8—namely the Ford Mustang GT, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and the V8-powered Ford F-150. It’s less a tune and more a sanctioned escalation.

Mustang: 810 Horsepower, With a Small Catch

Let’s start with the headline number: 810 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque from a showroom-stock 5.0-liter Mustang. That’s Mustang GTD-adjacent territory—at least in raw output—and it comes courtesy of a 3.0-liter Whipple twin-screw blower pressurizing Dearborn’s favorite V8.

There is, however, an asterisk. To see the full 810 hp, your Mustang needs the optional active exhaust. Without it, output “falls” to 800 horsepower. If you’re upset about losing 10 hp in an 800-hp Mustang, you may need a hobby.

This isn’t a backyard pulley-and-prayer setup. The kit includes a 92mm throttle body, colder spark plugs, Shelby GT500–sourced port fuel injectors, a dual-pass intercooler, and a Tomahawk flash tool to recalibrate the ECU. In other words, it’s engineered, not improvised.

And because this is Ford, not your cousin’s tuning shop, the whole thing is designed to meet 100,000-mile durability standards. Have it installed by a dealer or certified tech and you get a 3-year/36,000-mile Ford Performance warranty. That’s the kind of coverage that makes forced induction feel almost responsible.

F-150: Street Truck Energy, Raptor R Attitude

If 810 hp feels excessive in a pony car, 700 hp in a pickup might sound unhinged. The F-150 version of the kit fits 2021–2026 model-year trucks equipped with the 5.0-liter V8, bumping output to 700 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque.

No, that doesn’t quite eclipse the 720 hp of the Ford F-150 Raptor R, but it gets close enough to change the personality of the truck entirely. Ford points to the F-150 Lobo as the ideal canvas—essentially handing street-truck fans the power to match the attitude.

The kit works on both two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive models, provided they use the single-alternator configuration. Trucks equipped with Pro Power Onboard will need an additional component to keep the electrons cooperative.

Like the Mustang setup, this one is calibrated for 91-octane fuel or better. Premium in, tire smoke out.

The Fine Print (There’s Always Some)

The F-150 kit lists at $10,250, while the Mustang package edges up to $10,500. That’s before installation, of course, but in the world of 700- to 800-hp builds, those numbers feel almost reasonable—especially with factory backing.

There is one California-shaped wrinkle. The kit is marketed as 50-state legal for earlier model years, but CARB certification for 2026 vehicles is still pending. Until that paperwork clears, 2026 buyers in California and other CARB-aligned states will have to admire from a distance.

Factory Muscle, No Apologies

The bigger story here isn’t just the horsepower figure—it’s the legitimacy. Aftermarket forced induction has always carried a whiff of risk: questionable tunes, voided warranties, fingers crossed at every cold start. Ford’s approach flips that script. This is boost with a blessing.

And it reinforces a simple truth: the Coyote V8 remains one of the most tunable, resilient engines in modern performance. Ford isn’t just acknowledging that fact. It’s monetizing it—with a warranty card tucked neatly inside.

For loyalists who believe there’s no such thing as too much power, Ford has provided an official answer. It just happens to come with a Whipple whine and a $10,500 receipt.

Source: Ford