2008 Gurney Signature Edition Mustang

Dan Gurney is joining the likes of Carroll Shelby and Parnelli Jones, rolling out a version of Mustang to slap his name on. This car is a very limited edition, with only 300 being produced. And much like his rival's cars, his is very fast.

Gurney hasn't participated in a race since 1970, but his popularity hasn't declined any. His resume includes four wins in Formula 1 world-championship events (including one in his own Eagle F1 car), seven Indy Car victories, five NASCAR wins, and countless first-place finishes in sports-car events.

Since 1970 Gurney has been the owner of All American Racers, a team that has accumulated 78 victories including the 24 hours of Daytona and Indy 500.

The Saleen built Gurney Signature Edition Mustang sports a supercharged 4.6 liter V-8 boasting 465 horsepower. All those horses flow through a 5 speed manual with short throw shifter and into a 3.73 geared limited slip rear. Suspension is a Racecraft design with a Gen-II Watts-Link rear end (a first for a Saleen), which lowers the car's roll center and helps keep the live axle centered under the car (improving handling balance). Tires are high-performance Pirelli P Zero Corsas (285/30ZR-19s in front, 285/35ZR-19s in back) on five-spoke Heritage Edition gray alloys. Brakes are 14-inch vented discs with four-piston calipers up front, 11.8-inch vented discs at the rear.

Visual mods include a Gurney body kit, duck bill rear spoiler, hood pins, and custom graphics. The interior has been upgraded to a leather interior with Alcantara inserts, boost and air temp gauges, and Gurney's own signature on the dash.

The Gurney Mustang produces 35 less horsepower than the Shelby GT500, but by looking at the timeslips you'd be hard pressed to tell it. The trip to 60 takes only 4.3 seconds (identical to the GT500). The quarter mile flashes by in 12.9 seconds at 111.3 mph (compared to 12.6 for the Shelby). Braking performance bests the GT500 at 108 feet, compared to 118. The Gurney also outperforms the Shelby on the skidpad, pulling .96 g's of lateral grip compared to .89.

Saleen offers the Gurney in just three colors: Performance White, Torch Red, or Vista Blue. Price for the 300 cars will run around $58,000.

Dan Gurney is clearly happy to finally have a production car he helped to produce, saying "It's a wonderful thing to have a Mustang with my name on it." And despite the influx of special edition Mustangs currently on the market, the Signature Edition is a welcome addition.

Check out AmericanMuscle.com's large selection of 2008 Mustang Parts.

Electric Supercar, the Italdesign Quaranta

Motor Trend recently had an exclusive test drive of an outrageous new electric car, the Italdesign Quaranta.

This futuristic, fighter jet canopied car features a central driver's seating position and was designed by the same man who brought us the Lamborghini Gallardo. Instead of a roaring V-10, the Quaranta makes a lot of noise by making none at all.

The Quaranta is indeed a mid engine car, one sporting all wheel drive. It is entirely overwhelming in design quality, concept, and execution. And unlike most show ponies, this one is built to be driven as it most certainly was less than 60 days after making it's show circuit debut.

Italdesign and Toyota have a great relationship, so it's no surprise that the powertrain is sourced from the Lexus RX 400h. Toyota provided the 3.3-liter DOHC V-6 engine, electric-motor assist hardware, continuously variable transmission, and all-wheel-drive system, but the rest of the car has all been hand crafted by Italdesign.

The 3100 pound green muscle machine is rated at 268 total horsepower. Battery charging is assisted by Toyota's regenerative braking system and also by solar panels affixed to the car's front and rear horizontal surfaces. As functional and styling elements, the panels generate an additional 250 watts of free power, so long as the sun is shining.

The twin fuel tanks hold a total of about 16 gallons of gas and offer a claimed range of over 600 miles. That equates to around 37.5 mpg. 0-60 comes in around 5.6 seconds or so. This is no Lambo beater, but it does get roughly 3.5 times the gas mileage, after all.
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Ford launches special site, contest for 2009 Mustang

With all of the hype surrounding the 2010 Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro, it's easy to forget that the model year also brings with it an updated version of Ford's venerable Mustang. The new 'stang will make it's official debut at the 2008 Los Angeles auto show on November 19th, and is expected to be on dealer lots by spring 2009.

In an effort to keep interest in the car as high as possible, Ford has created a new promo site for the 2010 Mustang. The site will feature lots of updated information on the car between now and it's launch.

In addition to carrying information on the soon to be released car, Ford is launching a "Mustang Stories" contest on the site beginning on August 27th. If you've got a great story to tell in 250 words or less, you could win a 2010 Mustang and a trip to the Los Angeles auto show.

The Mustang Stories contest will be whittled down to 25 contestents and then the voting will be done by internet visitors.