Forget the FR500GT, this is the ultimate Mustang - Project Vanquish'd

[SVT666]

Western Motorsports from right here in Calgary have complete and debuted their Mustang project at SEMA. ?It has an Aston Martin V12 from a Vanquish stroked to 6.1L sitting in the engine bay. ?These guys are located on my way home from work and when the car is back in town I will go see it and I will post pics. ?I have known about this car for well over a year, but they wouldn't let anyone see it. ?I can't wait for it to come home.

http://www.wmsracing.com/wmsweb/vpproject.htm

[JYODER240]

That engine must sound glorious.

[sandertheshark]

That's obscene.  The engine is worth more than the rest of the car.  That's like taking a Lamborghini engine and dropping in a Volkswagen or- hey, wait a minute.

[MX793]

A V12 Mustang sounds both right and wrong all at the same time.  It doesn't seem right in the sense that the Mustang is known for being a V8 powered car.  An everyman's sporty car with a relatively common engine, not some Ferrari-fighting GT with some exotic powerplant under the hood.

On the other hand, the "real" Mustang (the P-51) was V12 powered (a British V12 at that).  Ford was trying to play on the popularity and legendary status of the P51 when they named the first Mustang, and how appropriate (or perhaps ironic) that there be one with a V12 sourced from a British marque under the hood?

[SVT666]

That's obscene.? The engine is worth more than the rest of the car.? That's like taking a Lamborghini engine and dropping in a Volkswagen or- hey, wait a minute.

If that's your definition of obscene, then I think obscene is a very good thing.

[SVT666]

Alright boys.  Western Motorsports just emailed me and told me I can come by anytime to see the car.  The car is in the back of the shop until they can make room for it in the showroom.  I am going to try and go tomorrow if I can get my wife to leave work early and pick our daughter up.  I will post pictures tomorrow night.

[TheIntrepid]

That's like taking a Lamborghini engine and dropping in a Volkswagen or- hey, wait a minute.

hahahaha. I laughed out loud at that.

[The Pirate]

Alright boys.  Western Motorsports just emailed me and told me I can come by anytime to see the car.  The car is in the back of the shop until they can make room for it in the showroom.  I am going to try and go tomorrow if I can get my wife to leave work early and pick our daughter up.  I will post pictures tomorrow night.

That's awesome.


Don't even bother posting about the trip unless you have pics to accompany it.

[SVT666]

No problem!  I just talked to my wife and I will be going to Western Motorsports tomorrow on my way home.  When you turn off the highway to go to their shop (it's built in the middle of a farmer's field) there is a table top smooth 3 km straight right to their front door.  I used to hit 230 km/h when my car was stock (pretty much top speed) before I needed to slow down.

[Catman]

Beautiful blue.

[omicron]

Well, er, it's a lovely engine.

[Catman]

Damn, that black panel between the taillights is hideous.

[SVT666]

Damn, that black panel between the taillights is hideous.

If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all  :P.....and of course this applies to Mustangs and Dodge trucks only.

[SVT_Power]

That's obscene.  The engine is worth more than the rest of the car.  That's like taking a Lamborghini engine and dropping in a Volkswagen or- hey, wait a minute.

[Raghavan]

That grille looks FUGLY. Works much better on AM's IMO.

[SVT666]

Here it is guys.  I gotta say, it looks way better in person then in pictures.  The paint is UNBELIEVABLE!  The black panel on the back doesn't look too shit hot in the pictures we've seen but it works in real life.  That Aston Martin grille is gorgeous.  The car is absolutely exquisite.  The engine hasn't been fired up yet because they were running behind schedule to get it ready for SEMA and the clutch was late arriving.  It hasn't been dyno tested either, but Shannon says he expects north of 600hp.  I think he's being modest, and I'm thinking it will be north of 650hp.  The V12 fit with no modifications done to the firewall or any part of the engine compartment.  The V12 weighs about 100 lbs more then the 4.6L V8 that comes standard.  The headers are an absolute work of art.  The car blew me away.  Here are the photos:

[SVT666]

Shannon also said the car will be on the local dragstrip as soon as it opens in April or May.

[sandertheshark]

Where's the stereo?

[SVT666]

Where's the stereo?

I didn't ask, but I assumed it is controlled by the screen in the center stack.  Besides with 6.1 litres of naturally aspirated V12 and 3" dual exhuast who needs a stereo?

[SaltyDog]

Iss wihld.

[FoMoJo]

Absolutely gorgeous!  I'd love to hear it going down the strip.

Are they custom rims?

[SVT666]

Absolutely gorgeous!? I'd love to hear it going down the strip.

Are they custom rims?

They are iForged 19x9 and 19x12 Essen wheels.

[Nethead]

A V12 Mustang sounds both right and wrong all at the same time.? It doesn't seem right in the sense that the Mustang is known for being a V8 powered car.? An everyman's sporty car with a relatively common engine, not some Ferrari-fighting GT with some exotic powerplant under the hood.

On the other hand, the "real" Mustang (the P-51) was V12 powered (a British V12 at that).? Ford was trying to play on the popularity and legendary status of the P51 when they named the first Mustang, and how appropriate (or perhaps ironic) that there be one with a V12 sourced from a British marque under the hood?

MX793:  I had not thought about the P-51/British V12 analogy until you pointed it out--how right you are!  But I had sorta given up on "Vanquish'd" after seeing no change on www.wmsracing.com for a year--then suddenly the beast is at SEMA!  Sure, Mustangs are known for being V8 cars--but until the modulars the Mustangs were known as pushrod cars and that has changed.  For a long time  they were known as longitudinal rear leaf spring cars and that has changed.  For a long time they were known as disc/drum cars and that has changed.  For a long time they were known as carburetored cars and that has changed. For a long time they were known as 4-speed manual/3-speed automatic cars and that has changed.  After 42 years, you wouldn't expect the current model to retain the suspension, brakes, chassis, or engines of the original car (a 170 CID straight six or a 260 CID V8, both pushrodders in several horsepower ratings).  Time marches on, and you may see Mustangs with V10s and/or V12s from the factory as supplements to--or even replacements for--the current V6s and V8s. Drum brakes are long gone from Mustangs, even for the rear wheels.  5-speed and 6-speed manuals have totally replaced the 3-speed and 4-speed manuals, and the 5-speed automatic has replaced the 3-speed and 4-speed automatics.  Coils on all four have replaced leaf springs on the rear.  No doubt IRS will replace the straight axle by-and-by.  One of the reasons Mustangs are still here while every single one of the musclecars and Mustang imitations have passed into the rusty annals of history is that Mustangs made the changes needed to survive--not necessarily pioneering anything that I can think of except possibly 2+2 seating.  More Mustang-savvy forum participants than the Nethead here may roll out a scroll of Mustang firsts, which I hope they do.  I don't know if the variable-colored dash lights (MyColor, isn't it?) introduced on the '05s was a first or not, but it may have been.  But truthfully, I think a Vanquish V12 won't ever be found in a production Mustang, and there's no current reason to expect the truck/SUV V10 to ever be found in a production Mustang, either.  So Mustang V8 purists can breathe easily for now! The Astang Mustin V12 or the Musquish V12 will probably never pull up in your neighbor's driveway...But it SHOULD!!!

[Nethead]

sandertheshark!  Greetings, Dude!  The Nethead here once owned a 1969 Mercury Comet Cyclone CJ428 fastback with a ram-air CobraJet!  And I still own the Honda CB750 Four motorcycle that I bought new in 1971 while stationed in what was then West Germany!  Small damned world!!!

[sandertheshark]

sandertheshark!  Greetings, Dude!  The Nethead here once owned a 1969 Mercury Comet Cyclone CJ428 fastback with a ram-air CobraJet!  And I still own the Honda CB750 Four motorcycle that I bought new in 1971 while stationed in what was then West Germany!  Small damned world!!!

Kickass.  Welcome over to the good forum.  BTW, you may have mentioned this at C&D, but I don't remember - what branch were you in?

[Nethead]

HEMI666: Hemidude, you may very well be right--"Vanquish'd" may very well be the ultimate Mustang!? And, as you noted, there's stiff competition for that title--the Boss 429 of '69 & '70--or the Boss 302 of '70--or the '65 & '66 GT350 or GT350R--or the first Cobra Rs of (1999?) with the 351--or the '00 Cobra Rs with the quadcammer--or the '68 Mustang GT CobraJet 428--or the 2005 FR500C--or the current FR500GT--you could even go hugely rare and throw in the dozen or so altered wheelbase '65 or '66 fastbacks that Holman & Moody built for A/FX dragrace competition with the 427 SOHC engine (after all, they were probably no less street-legal than an FR500GT).? The Nethead here can name eighteen tuner Mustangs in production right now counting the GT500 built by Ford Motor Company itself, and no doubt there are some that I am unaware of.? Ford and the seventeen other tuner shops should have a shoot-out at a roadrace track that also has a fully-instrumented dragstrip and award Gold, Silver, or Bronze horseshoes to the top three tuner Mustangs available in the S197 chassis!? Astonishingly, the GT500's mere 500 HP is sorta lukewarm in the Mustang tuner wars!? Life is good, dudes, life is good!?

[SVT666]

Glad you took my advice Nethead and came over to CarSPIN.  There are a lot of Mustangs out there right now including the Livernois Mustang equipped with a ProCharger pumping out 840hp and 900+ ft-lbs of TQ.  That car broke 174mph through the standing mile even though they let off the gas before the finish line because they lost a sensor (IIRC) that caused the engine to start running rough.  It has the most glorious exhaust note I have ever heard.  Go to C&D's website and click on videos.  You can thank me later.  I believe I am right though when I say that if Vanquish'd dynoes as high as expected it will be the most powerful naturally aspirated tuner Mustang I know of.  THAT is something to brag about.

BTW, I love the Cyclone CJ428.  Beautiful car.

[Nethead]

sandertheshark & HEMI666!? Thank you both for prompt replies to my postings! 'Great to be aboard the good ship CarSPIN!? I spent over a year as an AutoWeek forum regular, but I was tiring of their tolerance of profane, ranting sociopaths. They shut their forum down completely a few months ago, and I doubt if anyone laments its passing.? I got into the Car and Driver forums while seeking more info on the FR500GT Mustang featured in the December issue.? Then, Shelby had three special GT500s at SEMA and Western Motorsports of Calgary finally unveiled "Vanquish'd" at SEMA so I became an open forum (as opposed to subscription forums, which my employer's automotive products and services division pays for in our behalf) participant once again.? Then HEMI666 graciously told me about CarSPIN.? Thank you once again, Hemi!

'Shark, the Nethead here was in the Army for thirty-eight months, about twenty of which were spent in West Germany.? That was a long time ago, as I'm sure you immediately determined by the year of the motorcycle I bought new while I was there.

Hemi, I gather Livernois will build replicas of their Mustang for customers but that they don't build the replicas first and then market them to the public.? In other words, Livernois doesn't build them unless they have a downpayment up front.? If I am mistaken, then there are nineteen concerns building tuner Mustangs (of which Ford is one, because SVT builds the GT500 and not Shelby's Nevada organization--which builds other Mustangs and also upgrades GT500s to Fortieth Anniversary Editions).? I don't consider a concern to be a "true" tuner car manufacturer unless they are regularly producing their cars even without customer downpayments or deposits.

Will the "Vanquish'd" produce over 550 HP as configured right now?? Maybe.? Will it produce over 600 HP as configured right now? Doubtful.? But possible!? It took a lot of extreme hardware to get the V10 quadcammer in the Cobra roadster showcar and the Cobra GR-1 showcar to dyno at just over 600 HP naturally-aspirated, and I don't think Western Motorsports went that extreme.? I can't wait to read about instrumented track testing and instrumented drag testing of this vehicle!

Thank you for the compliment to my former '69 Cyclone CJ428--I wanted a '68 (better-looking grille than the '69s).? The '68 Cyclone was the best-looking Mercury ever produced.? I wasn't looking for a CobraJet, but my POS five-year-old Chevy truck was so worthless as a trade that I had to settle for some dude's repaired wreck.? But the repairs were splendid, and never gave me a moment's trouble despite hard use.? But a ram-air CobraJet 428 is an impossible car for a dude to own who's about to quit his full-time job and go to college on the G.I. Bill, so I traded it for a new '73 Datsun truck and thereby became the lucky owner of one of the best vehicles the Earth has ever known!? And one that I could afford while in college (payments were $21.90/month for 36 months--yes, that's $21.90!) for two years.? I traded it in late '82 for a full-sized Dodge van because the Datsun's cab was too small for two adults and two car seats--just a coupla months before our second child was born.

[Catman]

Nethead, welcome aboard!

We have a member here with a nice Mustang GT but he hasn't been around.  Let me go look for his name, it begins with a C:

Colodin!  I love his Mustang.  Perfect wheel package and no stripes.

http://www.carspin.net/forums/the-fast-lane/coladin39s-mustang.msg2815.html#msg2815



BTW, that FR500's interior is way too ricey for my taste.

[Nethead]

Catman: Cat, thank you for the welcome!? The Nethead here has been on the CarSPIN forums for just a coupla days and have been enjoying it immensely!?
The new Mustang GT fastbacks are just so hot!? For 34 long years ('71--'04), Mustangs wandered in the styling wilderness:? leviathan '71s--'73s, cutesy '74--'78s, drab Foxes, yada yada yada...?
Then in 2005 Ford made the Mustang young again!? Line up a '65 Mustang fastback, a '67 Mustang fastback, a '69 Mustang fastback, and a '05 fastback and you can see the DNA and the heritage.? I was sixteen on 4/17/64 when the original Mustang hit the dealerships--there was such a huge crowd at my little hometown's only Ford dealership that Sheriff's Deputies were doing crowd and traffic control.? I had to park several blocks away and wait in line for forty-five minutes just to get into the door of the dealership's modest showroom to see the white-with-blue-interior straight six--the only Mustang the dealership had on that day.? They probably took orders for thirty or forty by closing time (nationwide, 22,000 Mustangs were ordered that day), which was delayed until midnight so that second shift workers could get a look at it on their way home from work.? That had never happened before and to my knowledge it hasn't happened since!

Thank God for Hau Thai (Mus)Tang! ?

I love 'em without stripes and I love 'em with stripes!? I was at the '06 season-opening Grand American Cup race back in January and fell in love with the Blackforest Motorsports fleet of FR500C Mustangs (one was a backup)--all four were white, but one had navy blue stripes, one had green stripes, one had red stripes, and one had yellow stripes.? All four looked smoldering in the bright Daytona sun!? Playboy had two in a custom black-and-white without stripes (I woulda picked Playboy to have had colors a little more uh...er...ummm carnal, I guess).? There were numerous other FR500Cs there, but none close enough to a gate to have a prayer of escaping with an FR500C of my very own.?
If Colodin's black beauty were mine, I'd remove the two front fender GT badges and that awful faux gascap in the rear, replace the wing with a lip type spoiler painted matching black, tint the windows way beyond legal, tint the headlight covers and the taillights as dark as the windows, and congratulate myself on making perfect even better!? Then wheeltubs to fit 345s, lowering springs, FR500C 3-way adjustable shocks--you know the routine...And I would be tempted to consider gold Shelby GT-H stripes--I love the looks of that car!?

BTW, I think a standard Mustang GT's front end beats the GT500's blunter front end--I don't care for that modest cutaway they did on the leading edge of the hood AT ALL.? Please note that the Sonic Blue GT500 at the SEMA show had the GT500 front fascia but the stock Mustang hood with lotsa air extractor louvers cut into the top (which I also like better than the twin air extractor vents on the GT500's hood).? I'm a picky little prick, aren't I???