Making The Leap
Tangent once again partnered with Shelby American Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Carroll Shelby International Inc. (CSBI:PK), to design and develop the all new 2024 Shelby Super Snake. Based on the all-new body style Ford Mustang, the Shelby Super Snake features a whole host of functional racing components and exterior styling features designed to convey Shelby’s rich racing heritage and high-performance aspirations for this generation Super Snake. Shelby tasked Tangent with the design and development of all the Super Snake’s original exterior features from 2D sketch concepts to final 3D tool ready parts.
Pushing The Limit.
With Ford’s all new Mustang GT as the canvas, Tangent set about designing a Super Snake that would push Shelby’s wide-body halo car to the limit in terms of both styling and performance. Tangent took a holistic design approach to the Super Snake’s hit list of exterior features, ensuring that every component maintained a tight family appearance. Giving the Super Snake components that carry visual style lines throughout the body was a key element to ensuring the vehicle kept an OEM look and feel while still conveying its world class performance aspirations. This ethos is especially clear when viewing the Super Snake’s proudest two elements, the wide body fender vent, and headlight vent, which carry a strong sense of linear motion toward the widened rear fenders.
Content Heavy.
In addition to the features mentioned above, Tangent was also tasked with designing an all-new hood, with functional intakes, an all-new wide-body front bumper and grille insert with Shelby’s classic A-frame styling, an adjustable front splitter, wide-body rocker panels and side skirts, a functional rear diffuser, and a fully adjustable rear wing with custom aluminum supports.
From Sketch Dreams to Class-A Reality.
Tangent’s in house capabilities range from 2D blue sky ideation to full on tool ready parts in any number of manufacturing processes. With sketches in hand, Tangent set about designing the Super Snake’s bevy of carbon fiber and injection molded parts in Autodesk Alias, a class-A surfacing software. A critical element of this 3D process was the thorough reverse engineering and evaluation of the OEM Mustang’s mounting points and fastening locations, as well as tire clearance and open-air requirements. The crucial due diligence is what allows for Tangent to develop parts with an OEM quality fit and finish, ensuring a smooth road from part to assembly.
Ready for the Road.
The 2024 Shelby Super Snake made its debut at Barret Jackson Palm Beach on April 18th. You can learn more Shelby Super Snake at Shelby’s website: https://www.shelby.com/
