Meet the Award-Winning Fastback

All you have to do is take one look at this Laser-Red-and-White-striped ’65 Mustang fastback, owned by Greg and Joni Vogel of Fountain, Colorado, and it’s obvious why the car was voted Best in Class at the 2006 Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup.

This beauty is easy on the eyes. It’s lightning-quick on the throttle and a lot of fun to cruise around town in—but it wasn’t always that way.

Starting the Project

“This car was purchased in September 2004 as a rolling chassis with no front sheetmetal, no engine and transmission, and no interior. It was what you would call the quintessential ‘roller,’” Greg Vogel said. “It had always been a dream of mine to build a wild-looking classic Mustang street machine, and I figured that this car, or what remained of it, was the perfect candidate.”

Mechanical Work and Preparations

Vogel, a former helicopter mechanic, takes credit for performing much of the mechanical work on the Mustang himself. Of course, when you’re starting out with just a bare body shell, you can only go up. Before bolting any hard parts onto the Mustang unibody platform, however, Vogel thoroughly inspected the ’65 for rust and made the necessary repairs. Then he coated the underside of the coach with spray-on protective bed-liner material to shield the undercarriage from rocks and corrosion. Only then did he install a set of Maier Racing subframe connectors.

Suspension and Braking System

The rear suspension on the fastback consists of a 3.70:1-geared Ford 9-inch live rear axle sitting on a pair of Maier Racing No. 165 race springs damped by a pair of Koni Classic rear shocks. The brakes are Revelation Racing Supplies Stage II units.

Up front, the Mustang makes use of a Revelation Racing Supplies Stage II McPherson/Koni strut front end equipped with RRS Stage II brakes, RRS/Eibach springs, an RRS front anti-sway bar, and Flaming River rack-and-pinion steering. The wheel and tires are 17×8-inch Boyd Coddington Smoothie IIs rolling on P235/45×17-inch BFGoodrich g-Force T/A radial rubber.

Powertrain and Engine Build

Powering this beauty is a Mark Jones-machined and -assembled ’88 Ford 302W, which dyno-tested at 500 hp at 6,200 rpm with 479 lb-ft of torque at 4,200 rpm. Of course, now the small block displaces 347 inches, thanks to the installation of a Scat 347 stroker crank and kit. Items include a Scat 4030 forged-steel crank, riding on Clevite engine bearings, and a set of ARP 7/16-inch rod-bolt-equipped Scat H-beam connecting rods pressed up to a set of 10.5:1-compression SRP flattop pistons equipped with plasma-moly rings. Also on board is an Iskenderian roller cam, a blueprinted Melling oil pump and 8-quart Canton oil pan, a Cloyes True Roller multiple-index timing chain, an Edelbrock water pump, March pulleys, and a Tuff Stuff 100-amp alternator.

Bolted up top is a set of Edelbrock Performer RPM Windsor cylinder heads using 2.02-inch stainless steel intake and 1.64-inch stainless steel exhaust valves. The intake consists of an Edelbrock Air-Gap 4V bolted up to a K&N-filtered HP 750 Holley. Ignition duties are handled by an MSD Pro-Billet system firing Autolite spark plugs through 8.5-mm MSD spark plug wires. Exhaust scavenging is handled by a set of Mac Products TF-6470 ceramic-coated headers and a 2-1/2-inch MagnaFlow-equipped stainless steel exhaust system.

Transmission and Drivetrain

Power is transmitted back to that Ford 9-inch via a g-Force-equipped T5 five-speed transmission using a B&M Pro Ripper shifter. The final link in the drivetrain is a Mark Williams Enterprises custom-fabricated driveshaft.

Paint and Bodywork

Credit for the outstanding paint and bodywork over a combination of steel and Maier Racing fiberglass parts goes to Colorado Automotive Restoration Services and Jason Kurtze, who sprayed the ’65 in three-stage PPG Laser Red with red-pearl overlay and pearl-white stripes.

Interior Features

Inside, the Mustang features smoke-tinted window glass, TMI Sports Car Conversion custom seats with mini headrests, Auto Meter Phantom gauges and a Custom Autosound in-dash audio system.

Final Results and Accomplishments

Completed at a cost of about $60,000 and over 21 months, the Mustang runs in the 11s at the dragstrip, yet gets 19.25 mpg on the open highway, which is nothing to sneeze at. Other than the aforementioned win at the 2006 Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup, the Vogels’ fastback recently swept the show at the Colorado Springs Sertoma Service Club Car Show, where it won a total of four awards. The Vogels are also members of the Countryside Mustang Club.