Nowadays, a widebody Ford Mustang means you've bought something off the lot and fitted it with bolt-on plastic fenders. But this 1970 Mustang is widebody in an all-metal kind of way, and it's one of the sexiest machines of its kind that we've ever seen.
First things first, introductions are in order. The green machine is called the Ruffian Mustang, and it's a normal 1970 model with serious mods from builder Chris Ashton. The guys at Autotopia have done a detailed walkaround worth checking out, but we've also got some more footage from last year's SEMA Show that's also worth seen.
While most builders say it takes hundreds of hours to make metal fender flairs by hand, Chris did it in just 40, and it was his first such attempt. The wider arches make room for supercar-sized tires, the Proxes R88R that landed the Ruffian on Toyo Tires' stand at SEMA. Those are 345/30 tires at the rear, wrapped around 19x12.5 Signature One wheels. Behind those is a very obvious big-brake upgrade with 13-inch rotors and 4-piston forged aluminum calipers at the front.
The owner/builder says he was inspired by the legendary Boss Mustangs of the Trans-American Sedan Championship race series of the late 60s and early 70s. He wanted a nice daily driver but also had experience in the autocross racing scene, where grip is important.
Probably the biggest shocker of this whole build is under the hood, something that is given away by the "Boss 427" logos on the sides. Instead of the usual Coyote swap, this has the LS 427, an LS3 with the aluminum block making 625 horsepower.
The bodywork is littered with numerous custom parts, from a carbon fiber hood to the front valance kit and extended headlights. The color that ties everything together is non-metallic Live Green from a 1978 Porsche inventory.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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