Rick Titus is an American former race car driver and now automotive journalist, radio personality and podcaster.
His hands-on involvement with cars and trucks, including a stint as head of engineering at a leading automotive accessories manufacturer, led him to a career in journalism after he retired from racing.
In 1990, Chuck Beck of Special Editions and Rick Titus took seven Ford Festivas, gutted the interiors, and mounted Ford SHO (Yamaha-built for the Taurus SHO) 3.0 liter V6s behind the front seats to make the car mid-engined.
There were substantial cosmetic and mechanical changes, including relocating the gas tank to the front of the car, structural bracing and improvements to the chassis, adding wider wheel arches to accommodate a wider stance and larger tires, and a complete redesign of the suspension.
These changes resulted in a car that could accelerate from 0–60 miles per hour (0–97 km/h) in 4.6 seconds, travel the quarter-mile (0.4 km) in 12.9 seconds at 100.9 miles per hour (162.4 km/h), and could achieve a lateral acceleration figure ranging from .95 to 1.04 g. It was called the SHOgun.