In 2014, movie theaters and moviegoers around the country got a chance to see an automotive-based movie
that was not the Fast 'N Furious series, and with it came a slew of ultra-exotic cars, more explosions,
racing, and a solid video game franchise supporting it. Yes, the 2014 movie Need For Speed was exactly
that and showcased everything from beaten-up 1980s BMWs through Bugatti, but one car, in particular,
stood out as the hero car of the movie. Flying past the exotic cars and classics, the 2013 Shelby GT500
custom hero car was the only Mustang in the movie and punched well above its weight class doing so. Finished in Ingot Silver with Kona Blue stripes, the custom widebody Shelby Mustang was claimed to push
out over 900 horsepower in order to hit the theoretical 239 miles per hour. However in reality the
actual horsepower was somewhat less than that. These numbers helped the custom Mustang race against
exotics from around the
world before ultimately facing its end at the hands of a tow truck ramming the car. However, the actual
car made it out from the movie and currently is in Ohio. While the effects in the movie may have a
“Hollywood factor",
the handling and performance of the GT500 were not over glamorized as the car was running nearly every
piece of Steeda's G-Trac
suspension components to handle as well as it did on camera.
Need For Speed Mustang
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When Dreamworks Production Company began their production of the movie, the idea to use a modified
Mustang as the hero car
played toward the underdog idea when compared to the other cars it would be racing. While building the
horsepower up would be fairly simple with the addition of exhaust work, pulleys, and tuning, they knew
that in order to be competitive as well as aftermarket-friendly the car would need improved handling.
For this, Dreamworks knew there was only one company to go to - Steeda. With a history of performance builds and Mustang racing, Steeda was the best choice for the project and
development of the hero car. Steeda has helped develop modifications for the Mustang in movies and
various other cinema while using only parts that can be found in our store to install on production
vehicles. We decided to do the same for this build while having the car be completely unique from any
other customized S197 Mustang by the Dreamworks design team. Steeda’s racing history has proven time and time again exactly how important proper suspension is when
upgrading a car for any type of performance driving. Taking from our extensive history with suspension
work on road courses as well as on the street, Dreamworks gave us free rein to turn the car into a
supercar-fighting and corner-carving machine. With Steeda being a massive name in Mustang aftermarket,
Dreamworks knew that they could leave it to us for the improvements. To once again show our build quality, all of the suspension upgrades we had installed are still currently
available as they are mass-production parts we sell to this day. As a base for these upgrades, we fitted
the custom widebody Shelby Mustang with our Steeda Coil
Over Assembly, Steeda Upper Control Arms and
mounts, and Steeda Panhard
Bar to keep the car centered after being lowered. These are the
perfect base
to build from for any Mustang and formed a reliable platform for further upgrades to be done efficiently
on this car. After the basics of the suspension upgrade were installed, we turned our attention to improving chassis
rigidity. We did this by upgrading the factory sway bars to our own design with our Steeda Adjustable
Front and Rear
Sway Bar assemblies. In order to fit the absolutely massive 22-inch wheels
for the movie,
the use of the Steeda Lower Control Arm Relocation Brackets was done to ensure the fitment of
the rear
sway bars
so they would not be in the way of the wheels. With all of these parts fitted, not only could the Need
For Speed Mustang carve corners better than ever before at speed, but did so using parts we already
manufacture and sell for these cars for anyone to buy. All of the suspension upgrades that we had fitted to the custom Shelby GT500 were entirely usable and
functional in keeping the car on the road through our years of racing technology and innovation. We have
been working on suspension for these cars for decades and when we were asked to build the suspension for
the hero car in the movie we knew our suspension was up for the job. With our upgraded suspension
showcased in the movie, we were able to not only show how capable we are at building suspension for
cinema use but also that this suspension is exactly what we specialize for sale to use on Shelbys and
Mustangs around the country and world. When we had been contacted by Dreamworks Team and Ford on this project, we were given a very short
timeline
to build the seven hero Mustangs they required for the movie. The fenders were entirely handmade with
custom metal fabrication while the front
and rear fascias were scuplted by automotive clay artists who worked with Ford's design team before
ultimately being made with
fiberglass. Additionally, some of these cars were built from normal Mustang GTs while others were with
GT500 models, but once the paint and fabrications had been made the cars were identical on the surface,
especially once fitted on the custom 22-inch Forgiato wheels. An example of the strength of the Steeda
components is exemplified with the one car that did the massive scene in Detroit. After the stunt was
completed, the Steeda suspension parts suffered zero damage and were still working perfectly. When we were building the Need For
Speed Mustangs we were under a very tight embargo (e.g. no postings, no photography released, no
discussions, etc) as everything was a secret at that time as Ford Motor Company’s sponsorship of the
movie was not yet revealed. Overall, we had less than 10 weeks to build the 7 identical cars
required for the filming of the movie ….and that was done over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The team only had Christmas off as our schedule was extremely tight…otherwise it was a 7 day a week
operation with long hours each day. - Bob Adams, President of
Steeda Performance Vehicles. S197 Mustang: Everything You Need To Know Best Silver Mustang Paints Complete History To Mustang Bullitt All About The Need For Speed Mustang
The Need For Speed Mustang
Steeda And Racing
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Behind The Scenes
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