Factory Five Builds Its First Prototype Carbon Fiber-bodied F9R
Built-to-order and stuffed with anything up to a 9.5-liter V12, all-new Factory Five F9R is rapidly nearing production.
It’s been a few months since Factory Five Racing first announced that it would be building an all-new, ground up supercar called the F9R. This would be uncharted territory for the longtime kit car maker, even given its stellar reputation for quality. Regardless, the all-new carbon-bodied, front-engine machine looks to be coming along quite swimmingly. In fact, Factory Five recently posted this video showing proof that it has already produced the very first F9R prototype body.
This new American supercar features a unique shell designed using cutting-edge VR technology. It rides on a stretched version of the company’s existing Shelby Daytona spaceframe chassis. The F9R is a great looking ride, without a doubt. But the real beauty behind the concept is how it’ll be built and sold. Unlike traditional supercars, Factory Five will construct each F9R much like it does its existing kit cars. That means customers can choose their preferred powerplant. And since it’s much cheaper to build cars this way, it’s very likely the F9R will come with a much lower sticker price than your average supercar as well.
As such, Factory Five designed the F9R so that it can accept a wide variety of powerplants from both Ford and Chevy. That includes the ones you’d expect, like the C8 Corvette’s 6.2-liter LT1 and the Mustang’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8. But if you want to go full bore, Factory Five will also fit your F9R with a fire-breathing 9.5-liter V12. Derived from GM’s legendary LS, this engine produces a staggering 750 hp and 700 lb-ft of torque.
If it seems like the F9R is moving along very quickly, that’s because it is. Designed by R&D head Jim Schenck and Saleen S7 designer Phil Frank, the company made extensive use of virtual reality to speed up the development process. They also expect the car to go on sale as early as late this year, or early 2021. Considering how far they’ve come in such a short period of time, we have absolutely no reason to doubt that they’ll achieve that aggressive goal.
Photos: Factory Five Racing
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