Thread: Superformance makes a GT40 that will do lap times as easily as time travel

Only a short drive from the Superformance company headquarters, the road opened up: five lanes wide, fields on either side, clear vision and no traffic.

"Go ahead, open it up," said Superformance CEO Lance Stander, who owned the very GT40 we were driving and was ready to assume some sort of risk, presumably.

So we opened it up.

Pandora and her famous box had nothing on this car. The massive, angry Roush 427 strapped on behind us like an iron-block backpack suddenly opened its big bowls of Holley and barked out all 550 hp, half of which seemed to go to glorious noise and the other half to slingshotting us down the roadway as if it were a crazed nuclear pellet gun.

"Mulsanne!" we bleated, mostly because neither we nor anyone we know can pronounce "ligne droite des Hunaudières" with any kind of manly flair, especially with all the excitement of that 550 hp mentioned above.

It was hard to decide which was more sensational, the tremendous lengths of pavement being eaten up exponentially below us or the deafening staccato roar of the mighty Roush Performance 427R. In either case, God bless Jack Roush. And bless Superformance while you're at it. And let's not forget to thank Henry Ford II, who got the ball rolling on the GT40 project 46 years ago; Lola chief designer Eric Broadley, who built the first GT40s; great drivers such as (bow your heads) Dan Gurney, Lloyd Ruby, Bruce McLaren, Jackie Ickx and--

Oh, man, ain't it crazy all the stuff that goes through your mind in the four or five seconds before you run out of road?



Sure, the car was awkward to drive in many ways. Visibility out the back was mostly blocked by the air filter of the big V8. Rear three-quarter vision is not really what you could call vision, either. Little round rearview mirrors sort of allow you to see before making a lane change, but mostly you're trusting to providence. Seating is way reclined, as in a race car. Even at more than six feet tall, we had to reach way down to access the pedals, and then the effort required to operate them was prodigious. Those original racing heroes were something else. Stander says that each of those points can be addressed to an owner's specifications.

Steering and pedal efforts were likewise beefy. There's no power assist here, but then, there was none in '66, either. The suspension was firm and kept the car on the ground and tracking true through wildly fast sweeping curves. The shocks matched the springs just about perfectly. Despite the minimized ride height, there was no sense here, as there often is in "kit" and tuner cars, that the shocks were left stock and the springs were just there to lower the car for looks. This is a solid machine you could race all weekend and then drive home. There's even air conditioning--which the original racing heroes didn't have.

We have never driven a real GT40 (or a real Porsche RS Spyder, Ferrari GTO or any F1 car--hint hint, reader-owners), but this car has to be the closest most normal humans will get to that feeling. The Superformance GT40 was designed and built with meticulous attention to historical detail, as close as possible to the original race cars that first won at Le Mans 43 years ago.

Superformance makes a couple of versions of the GT40, along with Shelby Cobra and Shelby Daytona Coupe replicas, which transport drivers back in time to the era when these great behemoths ruled the racetrack. The design is so close to the original, in fact, that Superformance says 90 percent of the parts are interchangeable between original and replica.



The chassis is steel semi-monocoque, with a steel roof and Gurney bubble for the driver's dome. Front and rear body panels are fiberglass. Front suspension is unequal-length A-arms in front and trailing and unequal-length arms in back. Our car had CR6ZZ Avons, 215/60ZR-15 in front and 295/50ZR-15 in back.

While you can get any number of engines, most customers choose a Roush V8 mated to an RBT five-speed manual transaxle.

The particular model we were in was a Shelby CS GT40 85th Commemorative Edition, built to celebrate the 85th birthday of the old Snakemeister himself. As you may recall, Carroll Shelby was the guy whose GT40s finished 1-2 at the 1966 Vingt-Quatre Heures du Mans. Superformance makes versions of all three of the Shelby GT40s from that year's race. Ours was the one driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.

Time travel is not cheap, however. A regular Superformance GT40 replica starts at $79,900 without engine and transaxle. While it's still less than the millions you could pay at auction, our Carroll Shelby commemorative stickered at $109,999. Engines range from $12,000 to more than $37,000. Installation, which you probably want done right, is another $8,000 or $10,000. Our car as tested was $135,834. Which is still (you could tell the spouse) less than a tenth of what a real GT40 would cost.

When you think about it, that's actually pretty cheap for time travel.



2009 SUPERFORMANCE SHELBY CS GT40
ON SALE: Now
AS-TESTED PRICE: $135,834
DRIVETRAIN: 5.8-liter, 550-hp, 535-lb-ft V8; RWD, five-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 2,400 lb
0-60 MPH: 3.2 sec (mfr)
FUEL ECONOMY: Probably not very good

Hands down one of the most amazing cars I have ever driven!
I had to stop as I couldnt shift, steer and hold the camera........
GT video by jplayer521 - Photobucket

My hood loved me! LOL

jason, did you ever sell that thing?

Drew: nice article. My car is down some 200HP.

Originally Posted by 289FIA_Cobra

jason, did you ever sell that thing?

Drew: nice article. My car is down some 200HP.

Actually the oddest thing happend. The owner decided to give up selling it and told me to hold onto it for a while when he was up north. The owner told me to keep the miles low on it so I just never took it out of the garage expcept to fire it up and drive it around the block every week to make sure everything ran right on the car.

I was driving it around the block and some woman jumped right in front of me. She told me her husband would love the car and asked how much. I quoted her a price and she said ok meet my husband here in one hour. I told her I couldnt drive the car all the way to miami without so much as a deposit. She reached into her pocket gave me 2,000 cash and told me to meet him in Miami.

I get to an air field in miami and the guy flys in on his hellicoptor and hands me a cashiers check for the full amount. I called the bank to make sure everything was on the up and up, we filled out the paperwork. He took me to some key for lunch and then flew me to the boca airport where a car picked me up and took me back home.

It is to this day the most unexpected sale I have ever done.

/\/\/\/\ That is a great story!! Someday when you are writing your memoirs "The life of a lizard " that has got to be in there

Ummmmmm my memoirs are already written

Superformance GT40 is my grail car.

When I can fianlly afford one, it will likely be the last sports car i ever own. Ive wanted a MkII GT40 since I was 16, and owning one has been my motivation to work hard and succeed since high school. I love all cars, but the MkII GT40 is head an shoulders above all else for me.

Originally Posted by TJ

Superformance GT40 is my grail car.

When I can fianlly afford one, it will likely be the last sports car i ever own. Ive wanted a MkII GT40 since I was 16, and owning one has been my motivation to work hard and succeed since high school. I love all cars, but the MkII GT40 is head an shoulders above all else for me.

We let ours go at 82,000 with 600 miles!

Originally Posted by Jason A

We let ours go at 82,000 with 600 miles!

Wow!!! I was expecting to spend north of 100k. Maybe it will be a reality for me sooner than i thought (but still not anytime real soon)!!!!

He paid for it NEW 135,000.

We shopped the used market and they were doing 80 - 100K

The whole exotic market took a dump so I think he was lucky to get 80 at that point. That being said it is an AMAZING price for an AMAZING car.