Ford 427 Concept
The 1960s were the heyday of the truly cool American car; a time when
slabs of sheet metal, chrome and the Rat Pack defined cool. Those days
have given way to multi-purpose vehicles, pop-idols and plastic. But,
Ford is signaling a renaissance in the classic American sedan with the
new Ford 427 concept introduced at the North American International Auto
Show.
The Ford 427 concept is a showpiece of the possible design direction
for a future lineup of Ford cars. It debuts at the 2003 North American
International Auto Show as part of Ford’s biggest-ever wave of new
product and concept introductions, nine of which are cars.
The 427 concept is a modern, all-American sedan inspired by the exuberance
of the company’s landmark sedans of the 1960s, replete with the uncompromising,
590-horsepower engine that inspired its name.
“This is a car that you take home, park in your driveway, sit back
and let your neighbor eat his heart out,” said J Mays, Ford Motor
Company vice president, Design. “The 427 concept is unmistakably
Ford and 100 percent American. It demonstrates that a sedan from a U.S.
manufacturer can once again be exciting, sexy, sophisticated and powerful.”
The Exterior – An All-American Design
Menacingly blunt in its all-black silhouette with glints of chrome and
billet aluminum, the 427 concept is dark and mysterious, day or night.
Striking an almost sinister pose wherever goes, the car seems like it
was designed for film noir.
“It’s the kind of car that, when you drive it, makes you look
like you’re doing something wrong,” Mays said.
To create the 427 concept, Ford designers went back to the blue oval
sedans that defined American luxury and performance in the 1960s. They
constructed a wish list of elements they felt would be needed to create
a modern-day interpretation of the large, family sedan and then incorporated
those into a car that would unmistakably be a Ford.
The Ford 427 concept proportions are long, low-slung and wide. The hood,
roof and rear deck surfaces are purposefully taut with deliberate graceful
transitions. The car’s profile can be described in a single line,
flowing crisply through the front fenders and over the roofline before
returning on itself in an accelerating sweep into the rocker. This graphical
simplicity is emphasized by the use of brushed billet trim to highlight
the window line and rocker.
The car’s overall profile is clean, smooth and unfettered by extraneous
detail. The front fascia is vertical and linear with a powerful, thick
bent bar grille that was inspired by the mid-sixties Galaxie lineup. The
front headlamps and rear taillamps are vertical, drawing from the same
era but adding modern rounded square cues.
The wheels feature an iconic five-spoke wedge-shaped configuration wrapped
with 19-inch rubber. The nomenclature is a modern rendition of the ‘427’
logo that saw use on the Galaxie 500 XL 427. When all of these elements
are combined, they cast a silhouette that is unquestionably Ford and unabashedly
American.
Even the license plate, with “DET PWR” machined into billet
aluminum, articulates the throbbing, made-in-Detroit presence within the
427 Concept.
The Interior Design – All Modern
Where the Ford 427 concept exterior design is all-American, the interior
is fully modern. Contemporary exterior themes of the muscular bent grille,
the squared vertical headlamps and clean American profile are carried
over to the interior in an uncompromising fashion. There is no mistaking
that the exterior and interior of the 427 are in complete alignment with
the car’s mission and mystery.
The sedan’s striking black interior is tightly wrapped in sophisticated
black handcrafted leather with cornmeal stitching. These long, flowing,
stitched lines are consistent with the soft and sexy lines of the 427
concept’s exterior silhouette. The detailed stitching has no harsh
corners and describes the interior in a single fluid graphic.
Recessed brushed billet trim panels near the A-pillars create the visual
effect of the door as a solid, cohesive part of the car. The doors are
wrapped in leather and feature offset armrests. They include additional
brushed billet trim and door handles, building on the structural visual
experience. The seats have racing inspired contours with brushed aluminum
seat backs and bases. They also add to the structural effect, making it
appear as if long pieces of soft leather have grown out of steel bases.
The steering wheel carries the same leather stitching, with a tight sectional
pattern inspired by the angular waterfall bends in the front grille. Visible
through the steering wheel is an instrument cluster with a rounded square
speedometer and tachometer that are direct descendants of the front and
rear lamps. These gauges are analog with bold black numbers bathed in
a fiery red glow. The instrument panel also employs billet end-caps that
create the illusion that the panel has a core of solid steel. The rearview
mirror is trimmed in similar fashion.
The center console runs the entire length of the interior, conveying
the sense that the car has the strength and structure to handle large,
potent powerplant. It also creates a sensation that its four-passenger
bucket seats form individual roomy fighter jet cockpits. The console houses
the six-speed shifter with a modern authoritative brushed billet base
capped off with a soft leather shift knob and integrated aluminum emergency
brake. Its lower portion adjacent to the floor pan is trimmed in billet
and accents the angular slotted billet pedals. Finally, the carpet is
all black with chrome checkered flag buttons fastening it in place.
Detroit Powered
“From the first time we drew it up, we knew we had to do a powerplant
that lived up to the image of this sinister sedan,” says Chris Theodore,
Ford Motor Company vice president, North America Product Development.
“Putting a 590-horsepower 427 in this car is like putting a Navy
Seal in an Armani suit.”
The modern version of the Ford 427 concept’s power plant started
off as a cloak and dagger “skunk works” project commissioned
by Theodore, who wanted to know if it was feasible to craft an all-new,
lightweight 427 cubic inch (7.0-liter) engine out of Ford’s highly
flexible modular V-8 engine family. Ford’s Powertrain Research &
Development answered the call and began working under the radar screen
on a limited budget. The result shocked everyone.
The 427 engine produces a tremendous 590 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and
509 foot-pounds of torque at 5500 rpm. Remarkably, the engine is almost
70 pounds lighter than the 5.4-liter 32-valve Cobra R engine from the
Ford Mustang. The 427 achieves this astonishing power-to-weight ratio
through the following attributes:
- Siamese bore aluminum V-10 engine block based on Ford’s modular
V-8 DOHC engines
- Ford-pioneered metal spray process to maximize the bore at 95mm
- Newly designed lightweight forged aluminum pistons with a very short
compression height
- Aluminum cylinder head derived from the SVT Cobra R Mustang
- New billet H-beam connecting rods and billet steel common pin crankshaft
for increased strength without the need for a balance shaft
- Lightweight hollow stem valves
The engine technologies were developed in Ford facilities between Detroit
and Dearborn. So, it was only logical to carve the “Powered By Ford”
and “V-10” logo with a Redline Red finish on the billet cam
covers. Above that, the engineers bolted a massive aluminum strut tower
inspired from the grille. As a final touch, they added lightning bolt
caps along the inner fender walls.
Although New-Cars.com checks with auto manufacturers and their representatives
to confirm the accuracy of the data, it makes no guarantee or warranty,
either expressed or implied with respect to the data presented here. All
specifications, prices and equipment are subject to change without notice.
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