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We’re always on the lookout for the next car to feature. Whether we’re at the track, a show, shop, or even just out driving around town, our eyes are always scanning for a cool Mustang to bring to our readers. These days, impressive cars are harder to find. It’s not for a lack of them, but rather more like a glut of them. Horsepower numbers are higher than they’ve ever been, and 500 hp is seemingly commonplace. Build quality also seems to be superior to cars of even just a few years ago.
Sometimes the decision to feature a car takes careful scrutiny on our part. We can spend several minutes looking over the fine details, and agonizing over various aspects of a build. When we stumbled across Phil Heacock’s ’69 Mustang at the NMRA World Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky, it took us only a few seconds to realize this was a car we wanted to feature. Heacock’s recently completed ’68 Fastback was making its debut at the World Finals, and as it turned out, this was a car that your editor had been hearing about the build of for years.
There isn’t an angle on this car where you can’t find some of Keith and Jim Allison’s custom work.
Foxy Start
Heacock’s love affair with Mustangs begins back in 1987. In search of a car for his wife, he purchased a new ’87 Mustang LX 5.0 hatchback. Impressed by the car’s performance, Heacock caught the Mustang bug. Two years after investing in the ’87, he had his own ’89 LX 5.0 for a daily driver. He also had a rare, Forrest Green ’85 SVO. “The SVO was cool, it handled great with the Konis, but it took a while to spool up and go. With the ’89 LX I thought I was on top of the world.”
When the 1993 Cobra came out, with more horsepower, better brakes, and suspension than the standard fare 5.0, Heacock knew he had to have one of these as well. The SVO parted ways to his brother in law, and the ’89 was sold as well. It would seem that the teal ’93 Cobra was the snake chasing the horses out of the barn.
Tuned conservatively, the blown Coyote is putting out 550 hp to the rear tires. The Aluminator 5.0 and Ford Racing Whipple combo is easily capable of much more.
Heacock participated heavily in auto cross during the 1990s, even serving on the board of his local SCCA club. The Cobra was a regular at nearly every autocross event for several years as he pursued better driving and class championships. This car was even one of the first Cobras in the country to receive some of Kenny Brown’s parts, “I called Kenny Brown just a few days after I got the car, and ordered all of his chassis stiffening parts. Since he hadn’t had a Cobra in the shop yet, he sent me three strut tower braces to try out, I documented which fit best, and he had me return it so it could be powder coated before it would go on the car permanently,” says Heacock.
I learned a lot from auto cross, but a friend convinced me try open track driving.
Sometime after the S197 debuted, Heacock checked out a friend’s 2005 Mustang GT. Hearing rumors of the coming 2007 GT500, Heacock made plans to get his hands on one of SVT’s latest endeavors. He later took delivery of a 2008 Vapor Silver GT500. Having continued honing his driving prowess, Heacock accepted an invitation to a high performance driving event with Shelby American at Terralingua. Heacock won the event behind the wheel of his ’08, and even had Carroll Shelby himself sign the dash of the GT500.
Chance Encounter
Heacock, knowing what he did about Mustangs modded that car too, but it’s time with him was short lived. While visiting Blankenship Performance in Shelbyville, Kentucky, Heacock struck up a conversation with Keith Allison, a hot rod and muscle car builder with a shop, Allison’s Rod and Custom located next to Blankeship.
Allison told Heacock he was looking to build a car that someone wanted to drive. Allison learned the hot rod building craft from his father Jim, who works with him side by side at the shop. However, with an aging street rod crowd, and many owners who only get their cars out a handful of times per year, Allison wanted a customer who would actually push their car to perform. Heacock was just the right candidate.
The two settled on the idea of building a ’69 Mustang, tricked out with a variety of high performance goods, and fully capable on the track or the street. The project began in the spring of 2011, with the ’69 Fastback arriving at Allison’s shop. Your editor, was actually working for a local shop at the time, and made aware of the project by Ronnie Barrickman, owner of Barrickman’s Towing, who had been by Allison’s shop that day. Since that time, we’ve been keeping an eye out for this car to make its debut.
The Long Haul
The car received a full Total Cost Involved (TCI) front clip, including rack and pinion steering, and new subframes. The original plan was to source a Terminator or other 4.6 DOHC engine, and the TCI parts were ordered with Ford modular motor engine mounts. However, a new engine was on the horizon, the Coyote 5.0, promising more power naturally aspirated than even the factory supercharged Terminator. Heacock knew that this was the way his project had to go.
The Allison’s worked their magic on the TCI components to make the Coyote engine fit. Remember, at this time, no one had yet dropped a Coyote into a classic Mustang. The work included lowering the engine mounts to allow clearance for the Ford Racing supercharger.
I came by the shop one day, and they were rolling the car back into the paint booth, I assumed maybe something had fallen on the car, or the paint had been damaged. Keith said no, he just wanted the clear coat deeper on the car, and decided to put more work into it.
While visiting the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, Heacock stumbled across another part he knew his Fastback needed. Dakota Digital was showing off their new VHX series gauges for classic Mustangs. The rep that Heacock spoke to informed him a kit specific to the ’69 Mustang was in the works, and Heacock put his order in for one immediately following the show.
Build Artistry
Keith and Jim Allsion work in steel and aluminum the way some work in oil or water color paints, or clay. Between delays caused by other projects and waiting on parts, it took over three years for the vision of the ’69 to become a reality. The painstaking time, and attention to detail is present throughout the car, and the final product is a testament to the vision, craftsmanship, and care that the Allison’s put into every project they undertake. “I came by the shop one day, and they were rolling the car back into the paint booth, I assumed maybe something had fallen on the car, or the paint had been damaged. Keith said no, he just wanted the clear coat deeper on the car, and decided to put more work into it.”
At first blush, this ’69 looks almost ordinary, but give it more than a passing glance, and the details that Allison worked throughout the car begin to jump out. The craftsmanship and attention to detail are extraordinary, and this level of customization and detail is the kind of thing we usually only see in high-end show queens.
The hood is a completely custom part, based on the stock piece, Allison reworked the shape into something entirely custom and as yet unseen. That alone is a tall order considering the millions of Mustangs that have been produced and the tens of thousands that have been modified through the years.
The air scoops on the quarter panels have also been custom shaped, and the billet inserts are a handmade creation. Inside the car, Allison reworked a six point roll-bar kit into an eight point, with custom removable swing-out door bars. The center vents were hand formed by Jim Allison to allow airflow from the HVAC system. “I came by the shop one day, and was just in awe as I watched Jim hammer out by hand the pieces for these vents, and you look at them and they’re like artwork.”
Other custom interior features include the complete removal of the woodgrain from the dash. Allison spent hours carefully sanding this away, and then painting it. The paint color matches the TruForged wheels, also custom painted by Allison. “We chose to have three colors, and three colors only on this car, blue, black, and silver,” says Heacock. There’s also a custom Coyote badge on the dash where the Mustang badge would normally go. Above the glovebox, sits a Dakota Digital clock, with multi-function features capable of displaying speed, boost pressure, engine RPM, and more.
Since the car is setup for autocross and open track, and Heacock had it built with such events in mind, it’s equipped with Wilwood six-piston brakes up front and four-piston in the rear. For tires, Heacock went with BF Goodrich G-Force RIvals. That 200-rated tire is a favorite of participants in the GoodGuys autocross events, something that Heacock had in mind for this car.
When we noticed Heacock’s car at the NMRA World Finals last October, it had just test miles on the odometer, all six of them. The blown Coyote engine is conservatively tuned for 530 hp. While there’s more in the combination, Heacock hasn’t felt the need to push that performance level yet, the car is dialed in and track ready. On the day of our photo shoot it had just 42 miles on the odometer, most of those likely racked up on the way to our shooting location.
Not one to sit still for long, Heacock is already talking about selling this car and moving on to his next project. What that will be we don’t know, although he’s hinted at something 2015 Mustang related. Whatever it is, we’ll be watching for his future projects, as well as keeping an eye and ear out for the next big thing out of Allison’s Rod And Custom.
