Leno on the GTD: Not Just Another Mustang

Jay Leno:

“I went with my dad to go see the new Ford Mustang on April 17, 1964, at Shawsheen Motors in Andover, Massachusetts. The dealership’s windows were all soaped and they were giving out free hot dogs and doughnuts. It was a phenomenon, and I got to know everything about the Mustang. I also made my dad take me to the New York World’s Fair in ’64 to see the Mustang. That’s where I saw the Chrysler Turbine car, and after an hour, my dad was like, “Fer chrissakes, it’s just going in a circle — the hell we watching this goddamn car go in a circle for??”

Anyway, I’ve had a long history with the Mustang, and I have a few in the collection. When the pictures came out of the new Mustang GTD, I thought, eh, another Mustang. Then Tim Allen called me and said, “Did you see the chassis?” I said, no, I just saw a picture of the car. “Look at the chassis,” he said, and I did. They basically saw off the back half of a Mustang and attach a whole new structure that has a transaxle and a pushrod-type racing suspension with inboard coil-overs, all under a window in the trunk and wrapped in carbon-fiber body panels and wings. They went to the best suppliers and put the best stuff on it, like Multimatic for the suspension, Tremec for the transmission, and Brembo for the brakes, and the engineering is so sophisticated. That’s what really sold me … “

https://www.hagerty.com/media/opinion/leno-not-just-another-mustang/

(photo credit: speedster404)