Ford GT90 Concept Up For Auction

So what happens to concept cars? All the major manufacturers crank out about three or four concept cars a year. About half of them are non-running prototypes, rollers, if you will. I've seen concepts where bits of the dash were clearly made out of wood (I could tell because they hadn't done a very good job of sanding or painting said wood).

But then there are the concept cars that are runners. They have engines and can start and be driven. Those are rare, and car companies generally hold onto them, but not always. I know a guy in Sacramento who has a car collection that is 80% Chrysler concept cars from the 40s and 50s. Yes, they all run, and yes, it is a very, very nice garage this guy has.

Speaking of concept cars that are runners and can be driven and you would never expect to fall into the hands of people like you and me (OK, people like you and me that at richer than Croesus), Ford is set to auction off their GT90 Concept from 1995.

Back in the mid-90s, there seemed to be this supercar war between every major auto manufacturer out there, and a few boutique makers as well. I normally blame it on Porsche making the 959, only to be answered in a way by the Ferrari GTO ... which led to the F40, and the Jaguar XJ220 and so on and so forth.

Then at the Detroit show of 1995, Ford rolled out the GT90. Sure, you could say that it was case of jumping on the bandwagon and also had a certain amount of "me too-ism" about it, but the GT90 has some serious potential, thanks to its massively powerful drivetrain.

Made as sort of a successor to the all-conquering GT40s of the 1960s, it was also a partial homage as well. In a lot of ways, it was sort of like a GT40, only updated for 90s. It not only had the same general layout of the 40s, mid-engine, brief in length, roof cut outs for the doors, etc, but it was also updated with Ford's then latest (and now long past) styling "language" called the "new 'Edge' design philosophy."

All of this "new 'Edge' design philosophy" (which was a little controversial at the time, and the 90 had it's share of critics, mainly due to the abundance of triangles all over the place) was motivated by one serious plant: A quad-turbocharged 6.0-liter V12 that cranks out an estimated 720 horsepower. Impressive even my today's standards. The body is constructed completely of carbon fiber, which was very novel at the time and the GT90 would supposedly top out around 250 mph.

Impressive, no? Impressive enough for you to lust after, and potentially buy, right? Well, the time is nigh (if your rich).

RM Auctions has just announced they will be auctioning off the GT90 at their upcoming Arizona sale. RM says that the GT90 is in "excellent running condition, having been properly stored and maintained over the year." Which is really good news, because a lot of concept cars, although valuable on a ledger, can often times be left to rot in storage yards and such.

RM Auctions didn't mention an expected price or anything, but you have to imagine the Ford GT90 will go for many, many dollars. But hey, we can dream, can't we?

Source: AutoBlog