Sunday, April 10, 2016

This ’65 Ford Mustang Jump-Started a Racing Career

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2016 Bold Ride LLC.
 
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“If you put real sweat equity into something, you’ve got a meaningful investment,” says Don Lee, “and you’ll take care of it.”
This important lesson can be applied to virtually all aspects of life, but in this situation, Lee is referring to a very special pony car project—a 1965 Ford Mustang fastback—one that he built with his son Addison.

The classic pony car came together while Addison was going into high school, and as he explains, it took long hours and plenty of clever engineering to get everything to function perfectly. The car then claimed its fair share of brake pads and tires over the years, but in the end the result is surely worthwhile.

These days, Addison Lee has evolved his Mustang passion into a racing career. His favorite cars to track? You guessed it, and he does so in the SCCA Spec Mustang series. But not this one… no, this special Ford Mustang is still his daily driver.

No, it’s not a genuine Shelby GT350, and Lee is the first to admit it. But that doesn’t mean it can’t go like stink.

As Addison explains, the pony car now packs a 347ci “stroker” V8, which wields a hearty 430 horsepower and about the same amount of torque. That mountain of power is sent to the rear through a five-speed manual gearbox with overdrive, and it’s put to the ground atop a fully modernized suspension, with tubular A-arms in the front and stiffer shocks.

“Driving this car through the hills is a great experience. There’s really nothing else on your mind when you’re going through the gears,” Addison tells Petrolicious. “It’s almost like taking a vacation after going for a drive in a car like this.”

And it’s safe to say the father and son team won’t be giving up the keys to this special fast Ford for a long, long time.

“I’m planning to drive it to work and to continue driving it during the week as well,” says Addison, “just to have a little extra fun in the morning.”

 

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