Off-Road Racer Builds Killer ’18 Mustang for SEMA
Brad DeBerti styled this Battle of the Builders contender to take on all challengers with performance to back up the stance.
Off-road racer Brad DeBerti usually builds off-road racing trucks in his shop, but for SEMA 2017‘s Battle of the Builders, DeBerti instead turned his talent to building this wild 2018 Ford Mustang. DeBerti made tasteful but intense modifications to the ‘18 Mustang, since making big changes to a brand-new car might not translate well.
“I didn’t want to make it too crazy,” DeBerti says. “I wanted to make it look like Ford built the car.”
We think Ford might like the way it looks, particularly with the way the stance resembles that of the milder Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody. Yeah, we doubt Ford will go that route, but we can dream, right?
To start the project, DeBerti took full 3D scans of the car. Once he had a map of it, he designed the changes that he wanted to make. However, most of the car’s modifications came via old-school elbow grease. Brad put thousands of hours into changing everything from the carbon-fiber interior panels and color-changing headlights — it is SEMA, after all — to putting even more pep in the Pony’s step.
Most obviously, those changes included huge fender flares with revamped side skirts. Under the giant fenders lurk five-spoke Forgiato wheels that anchor immense 18-inch-wide Mickey Thompson tires, which give a classic muscle car appearance.
Forget how good the 2018 Mustang is? Get a refresher here.
“We had to put huge tires on it,” DeBerti says. “What’s an old-school car without some big old meats in the back?”
He’s got a point. With the car lowered on Watson Racing Suspension, the DeBerti Mustang isn’t all show, either. It will have no problem cornering. The roll bar installed should give confidence to drive it hard at track days, too.
Under the cowl-induction hood, the Mustang’s engine also looks poised for Hellcat dominance. DeBerti added a Roush Supercharger to the Ford V8, which gives it 750 horsepower. It looks nice and polished there, but the big cowl hood makes a nice final touch with a bit of drag-strip Fox Body appeal to it.