SEMA Review: Roush P-51B Mustang

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 Powerplant
The key point of the Roush P-51B is the 4.6L 3V engine, which with some help from the Roushcharger, makes 510 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque.  The internal workings of the engine are improved by means of a forged crankshaft, forged H-beam connecting rods, and forged aluminum pistons; and the compression is lowered from the original 9.8 to 8.6 in order to make the motor more boost-friendly.

The handling components are comprised of the Roush Stage 3 suspension and an addition to the P-51B over the previous P-51A, which is the massive 6-piston brake kit, tucked behind the five spoke black chrome rims. Roush’s intentions were for this car to accelerate and handle like a fighter plane, based on Jack’s passion for restoring and flying these planes.

The Roush P-51B price was revealed at SEMA, and this limited edition high performance Mustang will cost the 51 lucky owners about $66,700, including destination fees.  The P-51B is intended to battle the top cars on the street, but can the $67,000 Mustang compete, dollar for dollar, with the performance imports? Talk about it here!