Saturday saw a beautiful sunrise over Las Vegas, NV. Early rising Mustang fans, who are also runners hit the pavement early to participate in the first, and perhaps only ever Mustang half-marathon and 5k. Participants finished at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and were greeted by hundreds of cheering Mustang fans along the way.

Unique II

Cars began pouring into the speedway around nine o’clock, and we were already setup and ready to shoot some photos. Once again every generation of Mustang was represented, although there were only a scant few Mustang IIs. In the parking lot we only saw one Mustang II, a Mach 1, originally equipped with wheezy 2.8 liter V6. The owner and a lifelong friend did a little restomodding of their own on this particular II. The 2.8 was pulled in favor of a Cologne 2.9 yaked out of an 80s Merkur. We’re told the engine part of the swap was rather straight-forward, with the engine setting right into the 2.8 mounts with no problem. Getting a transmission mated to this setup, and locating the shifter in the right place was another matter.

Using a World Class T-5, a two-inch spacer, and an input shaft sourced from a Holden Commodore, the pair of friends was able to make the trans work. The factory driveshaft had to be shortened as the only other drivetrain modification. The Cologne 2.9 was worth an extra 50 horsepower over the car’s original 2.8. Electronic fuel injection also gives better drivability, reliability, fuel economy, and easier starting. 

Mom’s Car

We talked with John who brought his mother’s Madagascar Orange coupe with him. He recounted the story of how his mother came home when he was a teenager and wanted to buy this car. John loaned her $500 as a down-payment, and she purchased the 289, automatic equipped car. in 1985 John’s mother passed away, leaving the car to him. He has since restored the coupe and continues driving it around California and the rest of the country visiting various Mustang and other car shows along the way. He carries his mother’s ashes in the back of the car, “Mom loved to go on road trips. When we were kids we’d all pile in and she’d take off with us and go for a drive.” It was pretty cool to see a car that has stayed in the same family, really with the same ownership for it’s entire life.

From All Over

Mustang fans from all over the world have descended upon Vegas for this once in a lifetime event. It’s not often these days that any type of brand turns 50, let alone a car model, and as popular as the Mustang is in the USA, there is a huge following for it in many other parts of the world, especially in Europe.

We spent a few minutes with Ronald van der Meijs from the Netherlands. Ronald flew in to Vegas just for this event, and rented a Hertz Penske Mustang GT to get him here. He told us he figured he should use his Gold membership for something, and we’d say he made the right decision. He also told us several of his other friends from home are also visiting and similarly made efforts to rent either the same type of Mustang, or at least a GT for this special trip.

Back at home Ronald has three Mustangs of his own, something that surprised us, as we’ve heard of collectors and fans overseas but never talked with anyone from Europe who was such an avid Mustang fan. Ronald’s collection is diverse and includes a 1970 Mach 1 Twister Special replica, a real 1979 Indy Pace Car, and a 2007 Saleen Parnelli Jones edition. The Twister Special is obviously modified, and the ’79 Pace Car has undergone a complete concourse restoration. Having a health related issue with his clutch foot, Ronald also took the time to have the Saleen PJ converted to automatic, something he shipped the car to the USA for.

Those Crazy Fox Body Guys

The guys from Because You Can Motorsports brought out two of their Fox body creations to Vegas. Making the journey from their home in Carson City, NV, this crew is all about building, driving, and enjoying Fox body Mustangs. Their American Iron car was especially interesting. Part Rat Rod, part serious racer, this Fox has been stripped and lightened with the intention of making it do more with less. The engine is a 4.030 bored 302, with a Ford Racing X303 cam, and ported E7 heads. Straight-pipe exhaust makes this one loud and rowdy Stang for sure.

We talked with BYC front man Brian about the car who says an unintended consequence of building the racer is that the car has also become a great way to connect with youth. As such BYC takes the car to numerous shows, and encourages kids, young and old to climb in the car, and see what it’s like to sit in a racer. We thought this was a cool way of giving back to the community.

Parked next to the BYC racer was their ’81 coupe, the only four-eyed coupe we saw at the Vegas event. This one featured the original red paint, but the rest of the car has been heavily modified, including transplanting a built 302 engine, Tremec TKO 5-speed, and other goodies into the car. We saw great sleeper potential with this ride, since it’s not badged as a 5.0, and even the early V8 cars of the Fox era were relatively weak by comparison with the later versions that are now legendary. Regardless we were really digging this ride.

A Real Budget Build

We never got this car owners name, but his ride was a notable one, and an example that you can build a fast Fox on the cheap. Driven all the way to Vegas from Livonia Michigan, we give respect to anyone making the cross country drive. Not only that but this car has been on Power Tour three times.

We spent a fair amount of time talking with this car’s owner and builder about the project. Purchased from a local firefighter several years ago, the car was red with red interior. Having seen an article in another magazine on painting a car with house paint, this particular owner decided to give it a go himself. Now on it’s third incarnation in Martha Stewart Collection Green Apple, with some blue stripes for accent, the car definitely stands out.

What makes this one even more interesting though are the fine details. Years ago ROUSH would hold an annual “Garage Sale” at their Michigan headquarters where they cleaned out parts and products from previous years, on the cheap. You had to know when the sale was, because it wasn’t advertised, and you also had to act quick as taking your time to decide would often mean that the guy behind you would snatch up the parts you were considering.

At the sale back in 2004 there sat a ROUSH 360R supercharged crate engine. This one had been on a display stand at ROUSH, and with the coming of the new three-valve engine it was now obsolete. Bought on the cheap, (although he wouldn’t say how much), our green apple coupe owner swapped in the ROUSHCharged 4.6 two-valve along with a UPR K-member, and several junkyard parts from a donor 2002 GT. He also threw in a 4R70W transmission mating it up to his engine.

Seating inside has also been upgraded with 2005 Mustang GT leather seats bought at a swap meet. “I had to do some work on the seats themselves, and make a bracket to get them the right height, but the power driver’s seat now works. It was just a matter of measure twice, cut once.”

While some might turn their nose up at this car, we thought it was an excellent example of using what is at hand to build an awesome performing and driving car on a budget.

Other Trends

We were disappointed not to see any Coyote swapped cars at the show. There wasn’t a single car with Ford’s new venerable V8 on display. A trend that we weren’t surprised to see however was several classic Mustangs with 4.6 two-valve swaps. Ford literally built hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of these engines from 1992 through 2009, putting them in Mustangs, Lincolns, Mercurys, Thunderbirds, Crown Vics, F-150s, Explorers, and Expeditions. With the supply of junkyard 302s likely starting to dry up the 4.6 makes a good choice for a swap, although it requires more work than a 302. Still later PI headed 4.6s respond well to bolt-ons readily available, these engines also love forced induction, and are generally rock-solid reliable. They also aren’t as scary to work on as many think, and they’re sheer volume makes them dirt-cheap junkyard fodder for savvy pickers. They’re also easily rebuilt with better parts, for comparable costs to their pushrod brethren. We hope to see this trend continue in the years to come.

Yes it’s the king-daddy of them all, a real Shelby 1000

This Shelby used to run bootleg liquor in South Dakota when it was new. The heavily modified car has 500 ft-lbs of torque at the crank, and even had a modified trunk for stowing it’s questionable cargo out of site from ‘non-customers’.

There were a multitude of Shelby Mustangs on hand, including a cool Shelby 1000, and we’d expect no less with Vegas being home to the legendary car builder’s world headquarters. We saw no less than two classic GT-H Hertz rent-a-racers, both looked to be fully restored. There were several S197 platform GT350s, a handful of classic GT350s, and numerous S197 GT500s, scattered throughout.

We also noticed a large number of Bullit edition Mustangs on hand. We’d nearly forgotten this favorite car of the last dozen years, and seeing so many at one gathering brought a smile to our face.

We’re wrapping it up in Vegas today with the show officially closing on Sunday. So be sure to check out our photo gallery and our Charlotte coverage for even more stories and pics from these awesome events.