1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Restomod

1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Restomod

Between the muscle car themed premiere episode of The Grand Tour Season 3 and the announcement of the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, the eponymous pony car has been on everyone鈥檚 mind this week. Mustang on the brain is only going to get worse when you see this 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 restomod from RK Motors out of Charlotte. Following in the footsteps of their completely absurd Operation Fearless Ford Bronco, this 1970 Mustang Mach 1 restomod crams a whole lot of power into a vintage style car. When we say a whole lot of power, we鈥檙e not talking about just dropping in a modern Coyote engine. We鈥檙e talking about cramming a Jon Kaase Racing Engine outputting 912 dyno-proven horsepower between the fenders and mating it to a Hughes Performance 4-speed automatic-without having to sacrifice precious air conditioning for the warmer months. The power and performance aren鈥檛 the only selling points because, as you can see, it鈥檚 drop dead gorgeous. And at the end of the day, who hasn鈥檛 wanted to own a vintage Mustang? If you鈥檙e going to pick one up, it might as well have almost 1,000 horsepower.

And it was. At its heart was a new H.O. Teamed exclusively with four-speed overdrive manual transmission, it made for the fastest Mustang in years. Claimed 0-60-mph acceleration was below eight seconds, but most magazines clocked closer to seven, and Jim McCraw reported 6.9 seconds in tests at Ford's Dearborn Proving Grounds for the September 1981 Motor Trend. This brochure for the 1982 Ford Mustang GT shows the mature, sophisticated GT styling, aimed at more "adult" Mustang enthusiasts. 8308 base price. Effectively, it replaced the Cobra package as a more "adult" enthusiasts' Mustang but retained much of its styling. Whatever the hue, most exterior chrome went noir, while the grille, headlamp frames, and bumpers were tastefully left in body color. The interior was resolutely black except for cloth seat inserts with jazzy op-art white striping. Bucket seats flanked a standard shift console (still housing a pull-up handbrake as well) but were more heavily bolstered than in lesser models. A new powerhouse was under the hood for '82 Mustang models.

1982 Ford Mustang H.O. Reflecting separate but parallel development tracks, the Mustang's new H.O. 452 without. Those prices seemed steep, but the engine came with its own bundle of good stuff. 105 -- another reason to choose the top horse, as most V-8 buyers did. 57 credit option, though few buyers were likely penny-wise and performance-foolish this way. The '82 Mustang's optional H.O. V-8 engine didn't come cheap, but it did come with a host of goodies, such as power steering and power brakes. The 1982 GT hatchback was the quickest Mustang in years. 8308 to start, it also was top of the line. Ford happily lavished much attention and money on its newest H.O. Impressively, there was no muffler, yet the car was fully street-legal noise-wise. A new accessory drive reduced power losses by declutching the air-conditioning compressor and radiator fan at full throttle. The result, as McCraw relayed from engine engineer Jim Clarke, was more power to the rear wheels than most cars managed.

The '82 Mustang GT's TRX suspension delighted drivers -- it earned high marks for handling and performance. Most every '82 Mustang GT delivered for magazine road tests had the TRX suspension --a sensible PR ploy, even if the tires didn't like dragstrip work. After three years of experience with the Mustang, the engineers have managed to dial out all but a few noises and harshness sources. Mustang ever done." Said Levy: "It's as if the car's entire personality is derived from the pulse underhood. The engine makes everything all right. For today we once again have a super-stylish new Camaro, featuring a newly refined chassis鈥itted against a now somewhat dated Mustang with a chassis that's hard-put to handle its engine's generous torque. A Camaro that offers鈥oderate power with a manual transmission and somewhat better power only with an automatic. 鈥iving comfort and assurance all the while鈥? This may be the best all-around car for the enthusiast driver ever produced by the U.S. German" the GT had become for 1985, Car and Driver's Pat Bedard wrote, "You don't expect such refinement this late in the model cycle鈥? But the Germans keep after their stock, always improving, and the German influence in Ford is being felt. It's a good thing, too, because the Mustang is going to get older still before it's replaced, probably in 1988. But if it keeps aging this gracefully, who cares?

The 2003 Ford Mustang Mach 1 is a car built on a passion for Mustang heritage. Fortuneatly for many buyers Ford continued to offer the Mach 1 for another production year. The 2004 Ford Mustang Mach 1 was a virtual carryover of the last year. The only significant changes were the offering of some new colors: Screaming Yellow and Competition Orange. The 2004 Mach 1 also features bare aluminum valve covers which are not painted black like the 2003 model. As in 2003 the Mach 1 is powered by a 4.6-liter, 32-valve, dual-overhead-cam V-8. The engine makes use of specially calibrated cams, a modified upper intake to accommodate the ram-air system, a forged crank (cast crank in automatic transmission application) and performance exhaust manifolds to produce 320 horsepower. The vehicle is lowered one-half of an inch and is equipped with a firmer suspension for improved handling. The handling package includes new front and rear coil springs with adapted load and rate, Tokico struts and shocks, unique stabilizer bars front and rear and added frame rail connectors to stiffen the body. Thirteen-inch front rotors and performance Brembo calipers provide excellent stopping capability. The calipers have a black-anodized finish and are visible through 17-inch Magnum 500 wheel spokes. Mach 1 comes standard with anti-lock brakes and traction control.