Shelby GT500 to Get 3D-printed Stopping Power
Brake components for the 2020 GT500 will be printed at Ford’s $45 million Advanced Manufacturing Center in Michigan.
Thirty years ago, Ford bought the world’s third-ever 3D-printer, long before everyone else jumped into the game. Named SLA 3, the printer was used to create parts for different areas of a given vehicle. Today, the Blue Oval has produced over 500,000 parts from its many printers, saving time and tons of money with each printed piece.
Now, one more Ford will receive 3D-printed parts. CarBuzz says the 2020 Shelby GT500 will have a set of 3D-printed brakes to stop the high-performance stallion.
“More than 100 years ago, Ford created the moving assembly line,” said Ford President of Global Operations Joe Hinrichs. “Today, we are reinventing tomorrow’s assembly line – tapping technologies once only dreamed of on the big screen – to increase our manufacturing efficiency and quality.”
Though it’s not known at this time if the entire brake or some of its components will emerge from the printer, the Shelby GT500’s brakes will come from Ford’s $45-million Advanced Manufacturing Center, whose 23 3D printers have made interior pieces for the current F-150 Raptor, and tons of prototype components for other Ford vehicles.
Whatever does emerge from the printers will need to be up to the task of stopping all 720 horses and 650 lb-ft of torque from the 5.2-liter supercharged V8 planned for the GT500. We’ll likely learn more about those brakes (and the rest of car) in January 2019, when the GT500 will make its official world debut at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show.
Hero photo by Sinister_Lifestyle
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