Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. This week: Ford debuts one final Heritage Edition GT, Ford offers up special edition Bronco just for reservation holders who are still waiting for their shit almost two years later, Cadillac offers enticing preview of new GTP race car, and Nissan shows what’s possible with three Frontier concepts.

Ford GT Alan Mann Heritage Edition

It’s easy to forget that the Ford GT is still in production. The low volume supercar is a complex and time consuming car to build, which means Multimatic is expected to finish building the planned 1,350 units by the end of this year. From 2016 to 2019 model years, Ford offered a limited Heritage Edition to commemorate each Le Mans-winning car on its 50th anniversary. After that, they switched to commemorating other important milestones from the days of the legendary GT40 program. In 2020 they commemorated their first endurance racing win at Daytona in 1966 and in 2021 they paid homage to the original 1964 prototypes. Assuming that 2022 is indeed the last year of production, they’re sending it off with one final Heritage Edition model celebrating the role Alan Mann Racing played in securing the GT40’s place in history.

In 1965 and 66, Alan Mann Racing utilized their expertise in lightweight materials to create their own aluminum-bodied GT40 prototypes based on the Mk 1 and raced them competitively. While they didn’t score any major victories, their efforts helped improve the GT40 into what became the Mk II, which later went on to make history. The AM GT-1 they built is being honored here with the final Heritage Edition for this generation GT.

The Alan Mann Heritage Edition sports the same signature red paint (called Alan Mann red) with dual gold over-the-roof stripes and white accent stripes as found on the AM GT-1. It also wears the number 16 as the original car did as well. The focus on lightweight materials lives on in the new car, but with more advanced carbon fiber instead. Exposed gloss carbon components are prominent, including the 20″ wheels, front splitter, side sills, mirrors, engine louvers, and rear diffuser. As with all GTs, exposed carbon is also a major theme inside. What’s unique to this Heritage Edition is its ebony Alcantara-wrapped seats with gold and red accent stitching, gold touches on the instrument panel, door register bezels, and seat x-brace. And finally, the paddle shifters are painted in the same Alan Mann red as the exterior is.

As this incredible chapter of Ford history nears its end, how fitting is it that their last Heritage Edition pays tribute to an unsung part of the original GT40’s story. Ford even points out in the press release that the company didn’t even take Alan Mann’s lightweight version to Le Mans, instead opting for the heavier and more powerful 7.0-liter V8 race cars for the majority of the 1966 season. But the Alan Mann Racing-built GT40s were cars that were focused on the right thing. They’re not the first GT40s you think of, but they were definitely some of the most influential. This Alan Mann Heritage Edition GT is a good one.

[Source: Ford]

Ford Bronco Everglades

A lot of things are hard to find right now, but the Bronco at a reasonable price is probably the hardest. If for some reason you don’t want to spend $100,000 on a truck with an MSRP less than half of that, like a weirdo, you’re basically shit out of luck. Even those with reservations who have been waiting since summer 2020 are lucky to get theirs in any kind of reasonable timeframe. But don’t worry, Ford already has another version coming out.

Fortunately, someone at Ford seems to understand the optics of launching a new Bronco while most of their reservation holders are still waiting for theirs. This new Bronco Everglades special edition is just for them. Available next month exclusively to existing Bronco reservation holders, the Bronco Everglades is designed for those who want to go a little deeper into the wilderness than others.

Exclusive features include a really neat snorkel (which Kamil covers in detail here), raised vents for the front and rear axles, transfer case, and transmission for improved water fording of up to 36.4 inches, a ZEON 10-S WARN winch (with 10,000 pound capability and a 100′ synthetic line) built into the heavy-duty modular front bumper, a protective safari bar, rock rails, and steel bash plates borrowed from other high end Bronco models. It’s unclear if the Sasquatch package is included with the Everglades, but they mention that adds unique 17″ wheels with 35″ Goodyear mud-terrain tires. The Everglades also features unique graphics with Everglades topography on the front quarter fenders as well as unique squared wheel arches with matching fender flares. For easy cleaning after a muddy adventure, the seats are upholstered with marine-grade vinyl and the cabin features rubberized washout flooring. An exclusive paint option called Desert Sand (above) is available alongside Eruption Green, Area 51, Shadow Black, and Cactus Gray.

MSRP is $54,495 including destination charges. Good luck getting a dealer to actually charge you that. If you’re an existing Bronco reservation holder, get with your dealer by this March to talk about upgrade.

[Source: Ford]

Cadillac teases GTP race car

2023 is going to be an incredible year for sports car racing fans. That’s when IMSA’s new GTP class makes its debut with confirmed entries from Acura, Audi, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche with IMSA’s LMDh classification along with Hypercar entries from Toyota, Peugeot, Ferrari, and maybe some others. When they race in IMSA, both groups will race under the GTP banner. And this week Cadillac reminded us that the reigning manufacturer champs in DPI will continue to have a strong presence for years to come.

They’ve given us an extended preview of their upcoming GTP competitor. It’ll be built on the Dallara chassis (as the DPI car is now) and will feature a new Cadillac engine package in conjunction with the commonly sourced hybrid system. LMDh regulations require that manufacturers build their cars on one of four approved chassis and they can provide their own engine and a portion of the bodywork. Cadillac will be utilizing the design freedom they have to “artistically combine form and function to influence the development of the forthcoming race car”. They say it’ll be instantly recognizable as a Cadillac and include many elements of the brand’s DNA, such as vertical lighting and floating blades. From what little we can see in these teaser shots, that checks out.

Cadillac plans to unveil their GTP race car this summer. It’ll make its competition debut at the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

[Source: Cadillac]

Nissan Frontier concept trucks

Surprising nobody except Nissan themselves, the all-new Frontier is off to a great start with strong initial sales and demand. Apparently when you decide to replace a truck from 2005 in 2021, people respond well to it. So as Americans are eager to get out of the house and explore a little, Nissan commissioned their Nissan Design America team in San Diego to showcase what the Frontier is capable of with three concepts.

The first concept is called the Project 72X and is a modern take on the Datsun 720. Inspired by its bare bones configuration ideal for outdoor enthusiasts, this Frontier went with a gray exterior with white and black graphics (which definitely feel like they’re from the 80s), white painted steel wheels (which are actually spare wheels from the production truck), PRO-4x tires, 2.5″ lift kit with adjustable front upper suspension arms and a sport bar behind the cab.

The next concept is called the Project Hardbody, which as the name suggests pays homage to one of the most iconic Nissan trucks ever – the Nissan D21 Hardbody. Built on a 2022 Frontier Crew Cab SV 4×4, it features a 3″ lift kit with adjustable upper control arms, overfenders from the PRO-4X model, bed-mounted spare tire carrier, sport bar with 10″ LED lights, blacked out front end, and door graphics with 80s style shadow outlining. The absolute star of this build however is its unique classic Hardbody block-style wheels mounted with 33″ tires. Nissan could offer this wheel as an addon and they wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand.

Their final concept isn’t rooted in the rad era at all, but is instead the kind of thing you’d see parked outside of REI. The Project Adventure is a Frontier Crew Cab PRO-4X with a 5″ lift, 34″ mud tires, Yakima bed rack system, Yakima LoadWarrior roof basket, sky tent, a special carbon fiber snorkel designed inhouse. There’s also a Bluetooth bed audio system by Kicker so you can escape the loud city life for a quiet slice of nature and disturb everyone around you with your poor music choices.

These three concepts are currently on display at the Chicago Auto Show and will probably never be seen again.

[Source: Nissan]

What’s your automotive news?

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, so now it’s your turn. If you saw anything, fixed something, broke everything, or otherwise did anything even remotely car related that you want to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.

Have a good weekend.