Fans love to watch their favourite supercar v8 racing from the grandstands at the Bahrain International Circuit while debating about the supercar body style. The Holden vs. Ford rivalry is friendly, but often fierce. Friends and family members who cheer for opposing teams frequently enjoy playful banter about their favourite teams and cars, and while watching the race the debates increase. Indeed, many people believe this rivalry is what keeps fans so interested in the supercar races year after year.
The Look of a Supercar
The V8 supercar body style follows one of two makes. The manufacturers are none other than Ford and Holden, and the races are their playground to show off their latest features and to try to outdo the opposing team. Regulations require parity among the vehicles in order to keep fans interested with a close race. This means there aren’t too many major differences between the cars, so lots of creativity from the manufacturers is needed to come up with legal features that will put them in front of the competition.
Ford’s Supercar Body Style
Ford unveiled it’s new Falcon FG in 2008. It was based on the Falcon XR8 road car to satisfy the regulation that the race cars be based on family production cars. The leading Ford teams, Ford Performance Racing, Triple 8, and Stone Brothers Racing actually collaborated to design this vehicle. The design team indicated that since they had to follow the strict racing guidelines on the creation of the vehicle, they focused instead on safety, damage resistance, and ability to repair the vehicle quickly in order to make up time on the track.
Holden’s Supercar Body Style
In 2007 Holden released its new V8 supercar, the new generation 2007 VE Commodore. The model was initially rejected by race officials because the wheel base was longer and wider than that of the Falcon. But, V8 Supercar allowed the Commodore to use a custom fabricated bodyshell with a lower roofline than the production model and the rear door is shorter. Also like Ford, all the teams had a significant input in the design process and then had the ability to create their own versions after it was released.
Future of the Supercar Body Style
The “Car of the Future” project has been working on trying to get other manufacturers in on the racing. So far, none have answered the call. This could be due to the announcement made by Simon McNamara of Holden warning potential new manufacturers not to join the championship. He said they wouldn’t gain anything from joining the action. But, critics believe this statement was self serving, as his company gets a lot out of being one of only 2 manufacturers involved in the V8 supercar racing.
For now, fans gathering at the Bahrain International Circuit will continue to see only Fords and Holdens in the races. It’s possible that other manufacturers might join the fray in the future, but in the meantime the rivalry between Holden and Ford remains strong. However, fans don’t seem to mind, as the debate over the Ford and Holden Supercar body style brings a large amount of excitement to the sport.