It’s been another crazy year at SEMA in Las Vegas, and the show is going to bring another crazy custom car to the Gran Turismo series: Bruce Levens’ 1951 Ford Coupe.
The beautifully detailed Ford beat a strong field of other finalists which included Formula D champion Chris Forsberg’s 1975 Datsun Z, a 1000hp ’65 Mustang, a carbon-fiber Audi R8, and a Dodge Ram powered by a 775hp Hellcat engine.
What really made Levens’ Ford stand apart was the exquisite attention to detail that builder Chad Wick put into the car, both inside and out. The engine, a 1956 Lincoln V8 built by veteran engineer Ron Shaver, has been powder-coated in gold, with the wires carefully tucked away.
Outside, the car features a dark gray paint and interesting one-off gold wheels, built from the same Halibrand castings used on a 1930s Novi Indycar. The roofline has been cut-down, the framed windows have all been flush-mounted, and the custom hood and fender panels were all hand-formed. The interior is another work of art, featuring a hand-made dashboard and one-off race bucket seats wrapped with Italian leather.
This all sits on a chassis by Art Morrison — the builder who created another car that will be very familiar to Gran Turismo fans — the 1960 Art Morrison Corvette, which won the GT Awards in 2006 and debuted in GT5 Prologue.
As always, we’re not sure when the newest GT Awards winner will make it into the game, but it’s definitely one to look forward to. Congratulations to Bruce Levens, Chad Wick, and everyone else involved in bringing this Ford Coupe to life!
See more articles on Ford, Gran Turismo Awards, GT Awards, and SEMA.
Yet another car I’ll completely forget about by the time it shows up in GT8, 5 or more years from now.
Datsun was cooler. Besides there isn’t a single foto with hood closed?
It’s Sema, that hood doesn’t close. :p
Chris ruined that Z with the G-nose though. It looks better here (copy into Youtube) Bm550FcIs3g
I agree, GT taught me how much uglier the Z got, so I’m glad we get the 240 from last year and not this.
I’m very pleased with this choice – hopefully it won’t take too long to reach the game and also we have a changeable race number and stripes / liveries together with a range of period realistic wheels with high profile tyres so that it can be used for racing.
Glad this won, looks to be a fantastic build and will no doubt be great fun to wrestle around a track
I probably would only want a truck if it was a Ford, and I don’t think think it would’ve been good idea to do another Z, this was my choice ;)
The ones that have won the last few years have not even made it in the game yet. May never see this happen.
I’m still waiting for that Mach40 that won in 2012!
I think Kaz said the last few winners aren’t meant to go in GT6, but in GT Sport.
I actually liked em all, but in the end, i hoped the R8 would win, because i just freaking love race cars, but seeing his one in-game might be great as well! :D
I was hoping this one would win. :)
I Was hoping for the 280z.
Ah damn, was hoping for that Dodge truck, I think it looked way more badass than this Ford, but it’s not a bad choice either I guess…
I would have picked that one too.
Well at least we know Kaz has good taste…
This is the one I would have picked too. I look forward to trying it along with the other winners we have yet to see in GT. Roll on 2022!
Ha! Not the one o thought would win, but the one i wanted to win. Nice!
Excellent choice!
The other categories might as well be removed.
Awww… Was hoping for the Truck or the Datsun. :(