The Ford Mustang is an iconic American car that helped usher in the muscle car era, has won an incalculable number of drag races, and has a cult-like following the world over. With such a heritage, its no shock that there’s a large amount of purists who cringe when they see non-blue oval parts on a Mustang, but Erik Radians isn’t worried about that tradition. The desire to shy away from the standard LSX swap (or Ford motors, in general) has led to one of the more unique and clean Mustang hybrids ever conceived.
The “SupraStang” skips the usual American muscle powerplant and goes with a very potent drivetrain with a Toyota 2JZ inline-six as its cornerstone. This build has been a long-term project for Radzins and has seen a few different incarnations along the way.
The SupraStang initially made a healthy 350 horsepower on 15-pounds of boost, before the stock transmission failed. Radzins added a roll cage to make the car Drag Week-legal during the time off, but a freak parts disaster caused the engine to fail, and forced him back to the drawing board.
For the next few years, Radzins raced motocross and the SupraStang collected dust; that was, until the birth of his daughter. “Everyone says that having a kid means you can’t get anything done, which I found to be completely the opposite. Each night when my newborn daughter, Kaia, would go to bed, I would turn on the baby monitor, sneak into the garage, and start little by little putting the car back together,” Radzins explains. That work paid off, as Radzins’ creation achieved his goal of a clean, and 100 percent street-worthy ride.
Radzins’ SupraStang currently uses a junkyard-stock 2JZ Toyota engine with just new gaskets and a modified oil pan added before it was shoehorned into the car. A TH400 from RPM Transmissions helps put the power down. A Racecraft front K-member holds the engine in place with custom rubber engine mounts from C.N.A. Performance. A custom turbo system that takes boost from a Precision 67mm turbo helps the SupraStang make big power.
With future plans that include a better converter to hold more power, and perhaps a built engine, the SupraStang will continue to surprise people at the track. Check out this footage from 1320 Video that documents Suprastang’s first trip to the track.