1967 Ford Mustang Fastback - Muscle Rod
We told you it was coming. Whether you credit the current wave of popularity in musclecars or the stagnation in the street rod market, there's no denying that the fodder deemed acceptable for building a high-end street rod has quietly crept into the musclecar era. Street rod builders are turning to where the customers (and the money) are, and while well-done checkbook-breaking musclecars certainly aren't news nowadays, the shift in how some of the cars are being built is.
A street rod is by definition a hot-rodded or customized pre-'49 vehicle, but the line between those and today's crop of custom-built musclecars is blurring. Witness Bobby Alloway's latest creation, this '67 Mustang fastback built for George Lange. Though each of his previous builds was radical in its own right, Bobby has practiced some level of restraint on his past musclecars, such as the sinister black '70 Challenger known as She-Devil built for Ken Nestor. Though that car raised quite a few eyebrows and attracted attention for the massive amount of custom work involved, it retained an unquestionable musclecar persona with one foot firmly planted in its heritage. For this project, however, the slate was wiped clean, and the Mustang became an exercise in reinventing how a musclecar can be built. It's reasonable to say that this car stands as the current pinnacle of this new genre of "musclerods."
Ironically, the execution of the car wasn't intended to be a radical departure from the norm; it's simply how Bobby likes to build cars. Bobby will be the first to tell you that he is first and foremost a street rod builder, and it's fair to say that he's good at it since his cars have taken pretty much all of the top honors in the past, including America's Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR), the Ridler Award, Street Rod of the Year, and Street Machine of the Year. With his induction into the Rod & Custom Hall of Fame in 2004, you can say he's done it all. Pretty much everything that rolls out of his Louisville, Tennessee, shop has an unmistakable Alloway flair. Whatever platform he begins with, all Bobby's cars have a look that includes his trademark raked stance and huge rear wheels, but the most important unifying factor to Bobby is that every car must be finished like a show car from top to bottom. Even Bobby's personal '49 Ford convertible, which he enjoys driving regularly, is as slick underneath as it is on top.
Though it's perhaps the most definitively street-rodded musclecar to date, surprisingly the original inspiration for this '67 fastback actually came from a radically different type of car, Ford Racing's FR500C Mustang "Boy Racer" Grand-Am Cup car. Bobby had happened upon the '67 a couple of years back as an abandoned project that had spent the better part of three decades in pieces. The body was solid, so he happily paid the $3,200 asking price and dragged it back to his shop with visions of creating his own version of the FR500C complete with the race-prepped 5.0 Cammer, except wrapped in vintage '67 steel and with the requisite Alloway touches. Good connections within Ford had even allowed him access to one of the first 5.0 Cammer race engines available to the public, which sadly ended up being too tall to fit under the planned '67 Shelby hood.
After seeing some of the sketches and ideas being tossed around for the fastback, George Lange, one of Bobby's biggest fans and the owner of a few past projects, liked the concept so much that he convinced Bobby to build the car for him, which shifted the focus. Bobby is enormously picky over his own car, but he admits that when it comes to a customer's car his need to finish every inch of it becomes a matter of pride. Nevertheless, Bobby did at least get to build the fastback exactly as he wanted. George had faith in Bobby's abilities, so he gave him and his crew free reign over how to construct the fastback. The only stipulation was that it needed to be a driveable car.
In spite of looking like an over-the-top show car that will never be driven in anger, Bobby says that this is in fact a solid car that's meant to be driven. It may have traded in its masculine persona for a more plush vibe, but at least Bobby retained the soul of a hot rod. The drivetrain isn't just polished aluminum eye candy; the 281ci twin-turbo mod motor belts out 839 hp at an unholy 8,700 rpm on 93 octane. They even discovered the hard way that 900 hp is a little out of reach on pump gas. Underneath the sheetmetal lives a modified Art Morrison Max-G chassis and suspension capable of making the Mustang perform on par with high-buck sports cars. Bobby told us, "We've driven it pretty hard in testing, but I'll be honest-the wheels, tires, and rake aren't going to let the car be driven to its potential. They're just for style. But with a different set and a little chassis tweaking it could be driven much harder." But no one has to just take his word for it. Bobby plans on bringing the fastback on a leg of the Power Tour(r) this year, not to prove anything, but just to have fun with the car.
The street rod and show car world is a constant game of one-upmanship, but where is there to go from here? So the question then becomes whether this immaculate fastback stands as a shining example of cars to come, or whether it has set a standard that simply can't, or shouldn't,be surmounted.
Quick Inspection: '67 Ford Mustang fastback
Alloway's Hot Rod Shop/George Lange * Louisville, TNPowertrain
Engine: Beginning with a standard 4.6L block, Keasler Racing of Maryville, Tennessee, assembled the bottom end of the 281ci screamer using a forged steel crank, Crower rods, Clevite bearings, and 8.5:1 JE pistons with Total Seal rings. On the top end a set of heads from the Ford GT are fitted with Comp Cams valves, FMS cams, and Jesel rockers. That custom-designed intake is fed through two 72mm Accufab throttle bodies and sees 12 psi of boost from two 76mm Turbonetics turbos with Newgen wastegates.
Power: In its street-friendly tune, the 4.6 pumps out 839 hp at a shrieking 8,700 rpm on 93-octane fuel. Bobby is confident there's a few hundred more horsepower left in it with race gas and more boost.
Transmission: With an 8,700-rpm redline you gotta have a stick. A T56 six-speed transmission from G-Force Racing was chosen to back the powerful modular and provide long enough legs for the steep 4.88 gears. At 60 mph, the engine is only turning 2,200 rpm.
Rearend: The 9-inch centersection and axles are from Strange Engineering. A set of 4.88 gears was chosen to counteract the size of the rear tires and let the engine happily wind to nearly 9,000 rpm.
Chassis
Frame: After a good experience on his '70 Challenger project, Bobby went with another Art Morrison MuscleCar Max-G chassis for this fastback. The frame is actually Art Morrison's prototype of the Max-G chassis available for '67-'68 Mustangs and features extra braces that connect the frame solidly to the rocker panels for more rigidity.
Suspension: The front suspension is based upon Morrison's control arms and spindles with Strange Engineering coilover shocks with 525 -pound springs. Steering comes from an AGR rack-and-pinion. The rear suspension is Morrison's triangulated four-link rear with Strange coilovers using 250-pound springs.
Brakes: With the prospect of an 839hp car banging gears at 8,700 rpm, Bobby wanted to make sure that George could slow down as fast as he could accelerate, so all four corners are fitted with Wilwood six-piston calipers on 14-inch slotted and cross-drilled rotors.
Wheels: Boyd Coddington's wheel shop built these true knock-off wheels for the Mustang at 17x6 and 20x10 inches.
Tires: B.F. Goodrich KDWS tires stick the power to the street with 215/45R17s in the front and 265/50R20s in the rear.
Style
Body: The subtle body mods are numerous, but the most notable are the rear wheelwells (which were stretched 2 inches to accommodate the tires) and the distinctive Mustang body cove, which was recessed by an inch on the quarter-panel. The nose uses reproduction '67 Shelby parts, but the rear quarter extensions and spoiler were fabricated in-house at Alloway's Hot Rod Shop. To smooth the appearance further, the fastback C-pillar louvers and '67-specific side louvers were shaved as were the door handles.
Paint: The unique paint scheme was created with Mercedes Brilliant Silver, and the blue is Neptune's Jewel from DuPont's Hot Hues lineup.
Interior: The custom interior was created by Paul Atkins Interiors in its Cullman, Alabama, shop. The front and rear seats are hand-fabricated and wrapped with leather, the blue leather inserts carefully dyed to match the exterior color. The dash uses a stock Mustang lower, but the top half was made in Alloway's Hot Rod shop. The custom gauges from Classic Instruments rest in a billet bezel from Goddard Industries.

Photo Gallery: 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback - Featured Vehicle - Hot Rod Magazine



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