November 2008 Archives

The Return of the1992 Mustang Mach III
1994 brought the world the introduction of the SN95 Mustang chassis, but to hype up the release a few years in advance, Ford Motor Company designed and produced two 1992 Mustang Mach III's.  

The Original Mustang Mach III
The two, two-seat roadsters were built in bright red and metallic green, both with black trim, chrome five-star split spoke rims and plush black and body colored interior.  The 1992 Mustang Mach III was powered by a supercharged 4.6L 4V modular motor, making 450 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque.  This drivetrain helped the Mustang Mach III dash from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 180 miles per hour.  However, with the early design stages of the 13th generation Thunderbird (which was a 2-seat car), Ford never produced more of the Mustang Mach III.  Later, while spending some time touring various Auto Shows, the red Mustang Mach III was involved in a transportation accident, in which the car was a complete fire loss.  The green Mach III still exists, and was sold at Christies Charity Auction in 2002 for $491,500.

The Mustang GT has become the general performance model, which has been overshadowed a bit by the Cobra and GT500 over the years, but the Cobra production numbers are low, and the price is high in comparison to the GT.  But what if the 2010 Mustang GT was the mid-level full production package, with another trimline between the GT and the GT500?  

We all know how much Ford likes to relive vintage Mustang trimlines, especially on the classically styled S197 models. We also know how much Ford loves to celebrate anniversaries.  Combine those two things that are clear to see with a few popular rumors, such as the return of the 5.0 engine with 400 horsepower to the Mustang, and the return of the "Boss" moniker.  Boss Mustangs are currently a far cry from what they used to be, being little more than a rarely seen appearance/performance packages available through the aftermarket, but still the rumors have been that the "next" Mustang will be a Boss.

There were tons of rumors around a revamped drivetrain lineup for the 2010 Ford Mustang refresh, but upon the release enthusiasts found the same 4.6L 3V, and while the 15 horsepower gain is something, is it going to be enough? 


The 2010 Camaro will offer 300 (V6 base), 400 (SS, auto), and 422 (SS, manual), in a car that will tip the scales in the area of 3700 for the base on 3900 for the SS.  The current Challenger makes 250 (SE), 372 (R/T auto), 376 (R/T manual) and 425 (SRT-8) horsepower, and we are all well aware of the weight issue plaguing the Dodge lineup, so they will need the extra power to keep up, and we will likely soon see if Dodge has anything planned for the Challenger engine lineup.

The 2008 SEMA Show brought the world Roush's second installation of the P-51B Mustang. This car intended to pay homage to the famous vintage plane, and like that often-victorious fighter, the new Roush will make a worthy adversary for the best Japan and Germany has to offer in the modern horsepower war.

The Look of a Fighter
Roush wanted their P-51B to have more than just power, and the name of the fighter plane, so the 2009 P-51B will come in Ford's Vapor paint with Olive Drab Green accents in the form of the thick center stripe and the prominent 510HP hood badging.  However, to recognize the fact that fighters in World War II were often pieced together on the fly with whatever metals were available, the Roush body kit will come painted in both Ford's Vapor and a Deep Silver paint (it sounds odd, but its very subtle).  The grille and tail light panel are both flat black, and the sides of the car wears the yellow and orange seal of the 357th Fighters Group of the Eighth Air Force, who in WWII was credited as being the one of the most successful fighting groups of the war.

The Ford Mustang is one of the most easily recognizable cars on the street in the US, and Ford Racing Technology Director Brian Wolfe acknowledged that when explaining the inspiration behind the four modified 2010 Mustangs displayed on the floor of the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.  From daily driven to full-blown race cars, Mustang enthusiasts modify their cars in many different ways, be it for styling or performance, and Ford is jumping on the huge bandwagon of aftermarket support for the Mustang.

Surrounded by a huge spread of vintage, famous Mustangs, the modified Mustangs start mild and go wild, with each of the vehicles showcasing the Ford Racing Handling Package, along with a handful of other modifications.  

Many enthusiasts 'couldn't wait' to see the 2010 Ford Mustang, and evidently, Ford couldn't wait to show it off.  While we all expected to get our first look at the new Mustang as a whole on Tuesday night, late Monday night Ford began releasing videos and images of the new Pony.

It began on 2010Mustang.com, with an intro video that ended with what appeared to be a computer generated (or heavily enhanced) burnout by a 2010 GT. Between the spyshots and the teasers, we all had a fairly good idea of what to expect, but there were a few changes that you couldn't see from the teasers and spyshots.

Its 11:00 a.m., on Monday, November 17, 2008, and in 36 hours Ford Motor Company will debut the 2010 Ford Mustang.  The eagerly anticipated launch of this major refresh to the S197 will meet the world at the Los Angeles Auto Show, but for those who don't live in the area and cant make the Tuesday night debut, SPEED TV will air the release live!

We have seen the Mustang from just about every angle in spyshots and Ford has been teasing with shadowy shots of the new Pony, both inside and out, but the Tuesday night release should finally put to bed the speculation over the engine lineup. 

With the Los Angeles Auto Show just seven days away, Ford Motor Company has released what we can expect to be the last of the teasers of the 2010 Mustang.  So far, we have seen the hood, the interior, the side profile, the wheels, and the badging for the GT models, not to mention numerous spay shots, from the base model to the GT500.  

The Shelby Super Snake was set to debut in 1967, but due to the high price of building what would have been the king of all cobras, only one of the intended fifty was produced.  Luckily, the highest horsepower production Mustang ever built did hit the streets...some 41 years later.  The 2008 Super Snake, packing from 600 to 725 horsepower, depending on the options chosen., but in either case the new Super Snake is the most powerful factory offered Mustang ever (the lower horsepower models even come with a warranty).  

In 1968 a handful of Ford dealerships and experienced Mustang racer Bob Tasca collaborated to produce the Cobra Jet Mustang.  Originally, they intended to offer 50 Cobra Jet's, but in the three year run of the moniker, closer to 2,900 were made.  The 68 CJs came with the 428 cubic inch engine, making 335 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque, and it was fed by a ram air induction setup.  This was among the quickest cars available at that time, and reported quarter mile times are typically in the low 14 second range.

Ford Motor Company has based the S197 Mustang around tradition, from styling to trimlines, and the Hajek Motorsports Mustang is no difference. In 1968 a Mustang Mach 1 hit the Bonneville Salt Flats, piloted by Mickey Thompson, and the new performance trimline from Ford helped Thompson to set 295 speed and endurance records.  Some 40 years later, another Mustang headed to Bonneville, this time piloted by Mickey's son, Danny Thompson, and once again the legendary pony stood tall, hitting an official top speed of 252.78 mph.

Unlike the 1968 record, performed in a modified street trimline, the 2008 record was set in a car that started as a not-for-street-use FR500C.  The car was then fitted with a handful of items from the Ford GT Supercar, starting with the engine block and cylinder heads, and the heavily modified engine makes over 1000 horsepower with the help of a roots style supercharger, but unlike the original attempt in 1968, this Mustang is fueled by E85.

I don't think so.

Most Mustang enthusiasts have read about this magical 1987 Mustang that the owner/engineer claims will get 110+ miles per gallon, dash from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, and hit top speeds of over 100mph.  this story has been floating around for a while now, and when I heard that it would be coming to SEMA, I was excited to finally get a look at this mystical economy performance car.

What I got, was a look at a fox notch that can be described as rough, at best, with a cheap flyer pinned to the windshield with more of the same.  More claims of what the car can do, but since the engineer of the car claims to have spent 1.4 million dollars to achieve the goals of 100+ mpg and 400+ horsepower, the "team" still refuses to allow anyone to have any idea as to what they did to the car to reach these goals.  They were nice enough to plug the owners performance shop, which in my eyes makes the whole thing look like nothing more than a desperate promotional stunt.

Classic Design Concepts of Novi, Michigan, has established themselves in the Mustang community for great looking, high quality vintage styling items, as well as their fully functional "Shaker" style hood systems.  CDC also hosted the 2007 MustangForums.com Meet and Greet at their showroom in Novi, and we had a great turnout to an awesome event.

 

 The 2008 SEMA Show starts tomorrow, and the guys at CDC will be showing off their newest project, this time based on a Dodge Challenger.  The Challenger will prove to be a popular show car at this years SEMA Show, and like the Mustang, the Challenger derives its core styling from a vintage model, so vintage styling modifications are quickly becoming popular for the new Challenger.