Mustang RoundUp: Ponycars On Parade

August 20, 2013
Story By
Evan Griffey

The 33^rd Annual Northwest Mustang Roundup, reportedly the biggest single auto brand event in the region, lived up to the hype as more than 1,000 ponycars grazed in the terraced parking lot of Bellevue College, in Bellevue, Washington. The Roundup, put on by Mustangs Northwest, a regional club of Mustang Club of North America, was a four-day extravaganza featuring a track day, the Pony Trail cruise and two days of car showing. There were a staggering 54 classes to be judged and a number of People’s Choice awards on the line.

The cavernous hood scoop on Bob and Lynne Wade’s ’66 caught our eye. The nose was stretched 15 inches and the rear wheels positioned 10 inches forward making the Mustang a funny car.

The BDS-blown 302 puts the power down through a fortified Ford 9-inch rear end and some meaty race slicks.

We also like the nostalgia-style side pipe treatment.

This ’93 is immediately recognizable by its two-tone paint scheme (blue over silver in this instance) and its standard-issue GT body kit.

Crack the hood and very little is recognizable as Ford factory stock. The engine bay is immaculate with a sweet wire tuck and enough polished pieces to make a rap star jealous. Even the shock mounting plates have been given the rub.

The big bling is a huge turbo. We couldn’t find out who makes the turbo (logo must have been polished off) but judging by the size of the compressor side this is a serious piece.

The owner of this ’66 Shelby GT350 convertible relates that it is the first of only four drop-tops produced by Shelby in 1966.

The GT350 sports a 306-horse K-Code 289 and an automatic transmission.

The V8 has been enhanced with a period correct Paxton supercharger and we love the ‘period aura’ of the large plenum intake that completes the kit. Power is said to be in the 395-horse range.

It was a déjà vu double take when we came upon this pair of blue-hued hotties. The big question…Do you prefer 1970 or 2013?

The Boss 302 was created so Ford could qualify for Trans Am road racing and as part of the homologation rules a minimum of 6,500 had to be built. This example, dressed in Grabber Blue, features the G-Code 302-inch V8 rated at 290 horsepower and a top-loader four-speed stick.

The 21^st Century version, also sprayed with Grabber Blue, features 302 inches of V8 muscle rated at 444 horsepower and a number of race-inspired styling cues in the cabin and along the pony’s body lines.

This old pony was one of the more interesting finds at the Roundup. More relic than resto-mod, the car looks like a barn find…and what a find. It’s a GT 350-H; the ‘H’ stands for Hertz…as in rent-a-car. Actually dubbed ‘Rent-A-Racer,’ these cars are legendary for being raced on weekends and returned with thin rubber on the tires and thick material on the clutch.

The 289 cubic inch V8 in the original car was tuned by Shelby to bump output from 271 horses to 306 and the drivetrain was beefed up for added durability.

After its rental life, the cars were returned to Ford and sold to the public with the ‘H’ affixed to the end of its model code. They say foolish money buys a car from a rental agency - meet the exception...in restored condition the black with gold striped ‘Stang can bring six figures.

The Rodney Dangerfield of Mustangs, the Mustang II (1974 to 1978) struggled to garner respect. The platform was cut off at the knees by the oil crisis of the early 1970s and this era of ponycar featured an anemic 140-horse V8, German-bred V6 and even a four-banger; heck the V8 was an option. Where history sees a dud, the owner of this ’78 saw the chance to build a sleeper.

A Boss 302 mill topped with twin carbs has been installed and there seems to be a nitrous oxide system lurking under the hood as well.

David Eckert’s Mach Forty was the most famous car at the Roundup. This mind-meld between a Ford GT40 and a Mach 1 Mustang was a standout at the 2012 Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) Show where aftermarket parts makers show their wares.

The car won a design contest conducted by the Gran Turismo video game franchise and will therefore be digitized and put into GT5, which is due out later this year.

The powertrain is from the GT40 as is its 5.4-liter midship-mounted supercharged V8; while portions of the roof, the doors and sections of the grille are ’69 era Mustang pieces.

Some say late first-gen ‘Stangs are too big, too bulky, compared to their earlier contemporaries but I would never kick this ’70 Boss 429 out of my driveway.

Like the earlier Boss 302 this Boss Mustang was built to qualify for racing; NASCAR racing. With the Mopar guys, read Richard Petty, dominating with the Hemi, this was Ford’s answer.

The Blue Oval boys returned fire with a monstrous, high-revving 429-inch V8. With output mis-quoted at 375 horsepower this bullet was a few mods (one being deleting the choking emissions equipment) away from 550 horsepower. Since there were a scant 1,358 Boss 429s produced during its 1969 – 1970 production run this is most likely a tribute car, and it’s strong praise indeed as the attention to detail that went into this machine is impressive.

A roar would rise periodically from the far side of the show. A mobile Dynojet chassis dyno was on hand and a top dog power out competition was in full swing. This ’07 GT500 pumped out 448 wheel horsepower and 443 lbs-ft of torque but the mark to beat was 545.

With all the first-rate rides on display, Mustang Overload was definitely a possibility at the 2013 Mustang Roundup - and I admit I lingered in the For Sale Corral pondering ‘what if’ scenarios while looking at a tired $5,000 ’67…maybe next year. -Evan Griffey

Mustang RoundUp: Ponycars On Parade

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