Photos courtesy of Matt Haeffner.

To start this story properly, we need to go back to the beginning. It is the dream of many Mustang enthusiasts to own a ’03-’04 Cobra, with Mystic Chrome being a rare unicorn among Terminators. Matt Haeffner of Temple, Texas is one of the lucky few to have owned a Mystic Chrome Cobra, until disaster struck and dashed his reality.

The unfortunate set of circumstances surrounding the demise of the rare vehicle occurred when an un-named shop was making modifications, and during transport, it was tossed into a roadside ditch.

“The shop enlisted the help of another specialty shop to fit the Cobra with a custom radiator. When the car was done, one of the shop workers picked up the car to drive the four or five miles back,” Matt said. The driver stated that another car pulled out in front of him, he swerved off the road, and rolled into a ditch.”

Before this incident, friend Dustin Weber of Slowspool Performance, had stated that he would part with his matte blue Cobra if someone offered him the right amount of money. A quick call, and some back-and-forth on price, and the title on Dustin’s car changed hands.

All the usable parts from Matt’s Mystic were salvaged from the wreckage and sent to Dustin’s shop in St. Louis, Missouri. The salvaged fuel system, including a Fore Innovations triple fuel hat fitted with 465 liter per hour pumps, is tucked away inside of a custom-fabricated trunked mount tank. The 1,500 hp rated TH400 transmission, carbon fiber Corbeau LG1 seats, and six-point cage were also unscathed and recovered.

A DOHC 4.6-liter modular long-block was also included in the deal between Dustin and Matt. This nasty, little 281ci Teskid block combo is bored 0.020-inches over and fitted with a custom set of coated JE Pistons that pumps the compression up to an impressive static compression ratio of 11.3:1. With a set of custom billet Oliver I-beam rods connected to an OEM ’03 Cobra crankshaft, a DSS main cap girdle, and ARP hardware throughout, the short-block will handle anything thrown at it.A strategically placed set of Borg Warner billet S467.7 turbos provide the ported ’04 Cobra C-heads with an outrageous amount of boost, with Stage 3 Comp Cams turbo cams controlling the motion of the 32 titanium valves. JMB Performance and Powdercoat fabricated the custom hot and cold turbo plumbing, with the cold side feeding a fully-ported Sullivan intake, Wilson elbow, and 95 mm throttle body.

The TH400 from the wrecked Mystic was also salvaged. Built by Rogers Automotive in Chantilly, Virginia, it features an upgraded Pro Mod drum, hardened input and output shafts, heavy-duty race clutches, and added steels to the clutch packs.

Big 3 Racing out of Hinckley, Ohio utilized a Holley EFI Dominator ECU as the brains of this boosted modular. A custom wiring harness built by Stienman Racing features upgraded Holley EFI Smart Coils, and a Holley EFI dash touchscreen adds to the details.

In addition, a fully-welded and braced 8.8 rearend built by Wagon Wheel Performance. It houses a 3.27 ratio ring and pinion gear set and 31 spline Strange axles to help apply 1,000 rwhp to the pavement.

With TX2K16, in Baytown, Texas, fast approaching, Matt is gearing up to debut his modular-powered creation. He will also compete in True Street style events across Texas and the ModNationals in Memphis from September 2-4.

“I’m just stepping into the race scene. I would like to start hitting these kind of events and seeing how the car actually does. It may be seriously outgunned, I have no idea yet,” voiced Matt.

Thankfully, everything seems to have for worked out in Matt’s favor, even after the terrible incident involving his prized Mystic Chrome Terminator. Tell us what you think of this build in the comments below.