Chip Foose tastefully enhances his personal Ford GT

Wed, 05 Nov 2014

Typically, we'd expect a vehicle from 2006 to fall well short of a more modern vehicle, both in terms of performance and style. Of course, the Ford GT is not your average offering from the Bush era. That's doubly true when the 2006 GT in question belongs to one Chip Foose.

Purchased by his wife as a 50th birthday present, Foose is showing his custom, personalized GT at the 2014 SEMA Show. The 5.4-liter supercharged V8 breathes a bit easier thanks to a full Magnaflow Performance exhaust, but Foose's GT isn't all about the performance.

Instead, the car customizer extraordinaire has focused on tasteful aesthetic enhancement, tweaking the rear end by removing the bumper and trimming the frame extensions. The wheels, meanwhile, are one-off aluminum alloys, designed by Foose himself. Like the stripes, the wheels feature orange accenting.

Take a look below for the full press release from Foose, and then head up top and check out our full live gallery, direct from Las Vegas.

The 2006 Ford GT had long been a dream vehicle of Chip Foose. Dream became reality on Chip's 50th birthday when his wife presented him with his very own Tungsten Grey GT. But, as to be expected, Foose wasn't satisfied with keeping the beauty stock, and soon set about adding his own personal touches.

To start, Chip refined and smoothed the design, with an emphasis on the rear end of the GT. The rear bumper has been removed and the frame extensions cut back and trimmed flush with the body. To enhance the overall look, custom nerf covers have been added and the stripes on the body and side have all received an orange accent outline, done with 3M vinyl material.

While the GT had a great sound on its own, Foose turned to longtime partner, MagnaFlow, to give this high performance car a sound that would really turn heads. "To optimize the GT's 550 supercharged HP, we used a combination of 3" and 2.5" mandrel bent stainless steel incorporating a pair of custom 5 x 8 MF performance mufflers and our TRU-x. Providing a street legal yet aggressive sound, this MF Performance exhaust is 50 state legal and nets double digit HP gain coupled with an added bonus of reduced mass" – Richard Waitas, MagnaFlow Senior Manager.

To finish this vehicle, new one-off wheels were designed by Chip and cut out of aluminum. The 6-spoke design is racing inspired, wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tires and features two orange accent lines on the inside of the wheels.

The subtle, sophisticated design of Chip Foose and the power of MagnaFlow have combined to accentuate what is already a legendary American sports car and truly make it one-of-a-kind.

By Brandon Turkus