The Flying Ford Mustang: S197 GT Rally Car is Our New Obsession

Lost by Choice Motorsports’ S197 Mustang GT stage rally car isn’t just unbelievably cool, it’s for a good cause.

Mustang fans will often throw around that the cars are good for virtually all disciplines of motorsports. Honestly, it’s hard to argue that point in most cases. With Formula Drift championships in both S197 and S550 chassis, Ford racing in FIA GT3 with the new Darkhorse-based Mustang GT3, and, of course, countless decades of drag racing history, the Mustang really seems to do it all. If there was one discipline you might think a Mustang might struggle with, though, it’d probably be stage rally. This 2006 S197 GT is proving that to be wrong, though.

Lost by Choice Motorsports is the team behind this phenomenal car. We’ll dig into the details of the car in a moment. First, though, we wanted to highlight the Lost by Choice Motorsports cause. LBC wants to use its Mustang rally car to help spread awareness for mental health—specifically, suicide prevention. The words “don’t quit” appear on the back of the car and undoubtedly serve as a reminder beyond rally and motorsports. It’s quite a noble cause and we think it’s phenomenal!

A True Blue (Oval) Rally Car

Building a rally car isn’t as simple as a bolt-in roll cage kit and hitting the course. There are extremely strict regulations and requirements that cars must meet to compete in ARA rally races like Lost by Choice does in the Mustang. Cages are meticulously inspected, fire suppression systems are required, certified seats are required, and much more. The Mustang does indeed meet those regulations with a full cage welded from the rear strut tower to the firewall, Racetech seats and harnesses, and weld-in subframe connectors.

If the first picture in the article doesn’t make you curious about the suspension, we don’t know what would. For those curious, though, the Mustang uses Yellow Speed Racing Dynamic Pro Gravel Rally Coilovers. It also has S197 Shelby GT500 control arms both upfront and outback, as well as a GT500 upper strut mount with a custom aluminum spacer. Depending on conditions, it runs BF Goodrich Trail Terrain or K02 All Terrain tires on Sparco Terra rally wheels, GT500 replica wheels, or Steeda Ultralights.

Engine Upgrades A Plenty

As you might expect, the engine has a little love given to it, too. A lot, actually. You can’t just go racing in a Mustang without adding power, right?

In that light, the Modular 4.6 under the hood has a performance intake manifold with a Cobra Jet 62mm twin throttle body, Ford Racing Hot Rod camshafts, and Kooks headers with a catted H-pipe. Yes! Rally cars are required to have catalytic converters. Importantly, the car got a custom dyno tune to truly get the most out of these modifications. Naturally, a little help in putting the power down goes a long way on a slippery surface like gravel. So, LBC installed an Auburn limited-slip differential with 3.73 gears.

Overall, seeing an S197 GT in modern motorsports is always exciting. However, seeing one in an actual stage rally competition is one of the coolest things we’ve seen for quite some time. The fact that the team stands to raise awareness for a good cause is just the cherry on top! Hopefully, we get to see this thing in action in person someday.

Photos: Lost by Choice Motorsports