2007 SEMA Show: Ford Fancies

Race cars. Muscle cars. Sporty compacts. Rap star customized family wagons. Yup, must be the Ford booth at the 2007 SEMA show. As usual, Ford is striving to be the star of the show, and has trotted out numerous cars of its own to display. It also supplied cars to various tuners, including Chip Foose and Funkmaster Flex, both of whom got Flexes, of course. There’s also a herd of Mustangs old and new, and some of those F-150s Mike Rowe is always talking about. Want more? Read on.

by Staff

Photo Credit: Staff, Ford

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So you want to go racing, but maybe you don’t have time or inclination to build a car. Ford Racing has your answer: the Mustang FR500S, a production race car you can order through Ford dealers. To go along with, is a new spec series, the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup. The car is being built on the production line at Flat Rock, Mich., and has the 4.6 liter, three-valve V-8, which will be dyno tested and sealed by Roush Industries. The price of admission: $75,000. First year production is limited to 77 cars. 

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Light blue and cream slab sides and the Flex’s already iconic white roof make this custom wagon a real sweetheart. Add in superbly designed deep-dish 22-inch wheels, Eibach springs and a custom interior that features three-tone leather seats by Katzkin and the style is unmistakably custom and upscale. Additionally, Foose designed new front and rear fascias. Highlights include a wrap-around chrome beltline and a custom grille. 

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If the FooseFlex is about suburbia, then the Funkmaster Flex(2) is about making a Ford Flex work in an urban setting. That’s what Funkmaster was going for when he created his Flex with a two-tone, brandywine paint scheme and a faux brushed aluminum roof. Lowered one inch and riding on 22s, the Flex(2) backs up the paint job with a low, mean and sexy look. That theme continues inside, with all-black Katzkin leather seats, stainless steel color stitching and headrest mounted DVD systems, along with an audio system that features a 12-inch subwoofer.

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Salt? Martini? Passengers? The ground? Judging by the specs, the Shaker will, uh, shake them all, but good. X-Treme Toyz added some goodies to get even more out of the 650 lb.-ft. of torque stock diesel. All that grunt drives an F-450 that’s been lifted 10 inches and rides on 22-inch wheels wrapped in big off-road rubber. A red-on-black paint job, custom front and rear bumpers and steps round out the exterior styling. The bed has a sliding cargo floor and rack system, and inside are a leather interior with massaging front seats, and audio, video and navigation systems. 

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A lot has changed since “Urban Cowboy” made pickups cool. Since then, custom trucks have gotten a lot more urban and a lot less cowboy. Case in point, ATS Design’s worked-up F-150 Crew Cab. ATS rounded up parts from various aftermarket companies, including itself. The result: a truck on 22-inch wheels under flared fenders, sitting two inches lower, and sporting a billet grill, new front valance, cargo management and tonneau cover. The Triton V-8 gets new intake and exhaust, and there are dual batteries to power the entertainment system. Did we mention leather interior? We’ll update with photos from the floor. 

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There might be more Mustang variants than we can count, from production models to one-off customs. Making a distinctive pony car is almost too easy, and one mod too many can turn “Wow!” into “What?” Ford’s Vehicle Personalization Group set out to show the way with their concept. Black sparkle paint, 20-inch chrome wheels, equine-themed graphics, cold-air induction, supercharger and a black and white leather interior. We’ll know more when the vehicle debuts, and we’ll reserve our “Wow! or “What?” until then.