Imagine Ford brought you on to help develop the next F-150. You’d be psyched, right? Out of sheer excitement and gratitude, you’d be willing to work on it all the time.
Those are the kinds of hours Ford GT Engineering Supervisor Nick Terzes and the other people working on the 2017 Ford GT are keeping: all of them. In the following video, Terzes and his crew are in a wind tunnel facility testing the aerodynamics of a GT prototype at 2 a.m. on a Monday.
They shoot air at it at 125 mph to test how loud the interior noise levels get and how the various aero elements on the exterior of the car, such as the articulating rear wing, react to and manage the wind. Terzes says, “One of the great things about this car, as dynamic and beautiful as the design is, every single opening has a purpose on the car. So If you see a large grille, if you see a scoop, it’s wasn’t just put there to look good. It was put there because it has a function.”
It’s not hard to imagine why Terzes and his colleagues work such odd schedules. Yes, they’re doing their jobs, but they’re also directly contributing to the construction and betterment of an American supercar that’s meant to take on Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Great things take time – no matter what part of the day or night it comes from. Let’s hope the sleep Terzes and his gang have missed out on ends up being worth the sacrifice.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
