Caspian Blue Mustang Goes From Commuter Car to Track Star
Passionate Ford enthusiast scored his college friend’s 289 V8 Mustang who gave up on it in the ’80s, and the rest is history.
Today, it has a carbon fiber front end, a turbocharged 427 cubic inch V8, a custom suspension and body work, and a massive rear wing. But when Paul Faessler, owner of Paul’s Automotive Engineering in Ohio, first met this Caspian Blue ’65 Mustang, it was his college buddy’s 289-powered commuter car. In the early ’80s, the friend decided to drop a 351 Windsor and four-speed manual transmission in it, but gave up when he discovered rust in the rear frame rails. Paul bought it, rescued it, and for 37 years, it’s become a champion in everything that it does.
Stories like this one don’t come along very often. That’s why we’re so happy that Turnology decided to share Paul’s Mustang odyssey to the world. In the early ’80s, he restored the car and built it into a drag racer. “It was the fastest DOT tire drag car at the first Fun Ford race weekend in Indy in about 1987,” he says. While the car could’ve continued to dominate on the strip, by the end of the ’80s, Paul had moved onto a new passion: Road racing.
Into a new phase
In the 1990s, the car ran with a naturally-aspirated 408 cubic inch V8 and a roll cage. But in 2004, he became interested in National Auto Sport Association (NASA)’s American Iron class. The car was too heavy, so it was eventually built for American Iron Extreme class instead. And that’s when the gloves came off.
Gone were the factory interior, suspension, and most of the bodywork. In their place were carbon fiber panels, a custom suspension, a stripped interior, and much, much more. After finding success at the strip and on the road course, the ’65 was now a NASA champ. It won the 2008 NASA AIX National Championship, then did it again in 2016. What’s more, his son, Brian, drove the car to a 2015 AIX National Championship.
In short, the story of Paul and his trusty old Mustang is nothing short of incredible. Here’s hoping that the Faessler’s and their champion Mustang continue to rack up the wins for years to come.
Photos: Turnology
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