Classic Muscle: Shaun Martin’s Ultra Clean 1966 Mustang

While some people might inherit jewelry, property, or antiques from their family, Shaun Martin got a 1966 Mustang. This pony car has been in Martin’s family for over twenty years and started its racing life on the street, then moving to the track over time. Now, Martin has his sights set on turning his Mustang into an eight-second track monster that dines on all the nitrous he can stuff into it.

Martin’s father originally purchased the car and did plenty of street racing along with some track racing. During those years the Mustang still had its stock suspension with some traction bars and was powered by a 289 cubic-inch engine that had a nice 175 horsepower shot of nitrous. With this basic setup, the Mustang ran in the respectable 11.30 range at the track without a roll bar.

The Mustang has always been a home-built family project for the Martins’ as they do everything they can in-house. When the decision was made to up the horsepower, the old 289 Ford engine was removed and in its place, a rowdy 357 cubic-inch Windsor-based motor was added. While that was being stuffed into the Mustang, the car also received an eight-point roll bar and was tubbed out to put some serious tires under the rear. The Windsor motor lived a short life as a transmission that locked up caused the motor to spin the bearings.

Undaunted by this setback, the family pulled the wounded engine out and replaced it with a healthy 420 cubic-inch small block Ford engine with a C6 transmission to handle the gear changes. That new combination woke the Mustang up and propelled it to a best of 10.32 at 128 mph on nothing but the motor.

Well, going 10s was fun for a while, but Martin decided he wanted to kick things up a notch with the Mustang so he put the car under the knife again to get it ready for even quicker times.

“After I got bored with the 10.3 passes, I totally cut everything out of the car except the rear back half. From there, I built a 25.4 spec chassis in the garage of my parent’s house and upgraded the front suspension to a Mustang two coil over style suspension. The new motor is a 455 cubic-inch small block Ford with a single fogger that’s backed by a powerglide,” Martin explains.

After this round of upgrades, Martin has his eyes set on running deep into the eight-second zone with the Mustang. Right now he’s working on finishing up some of the last details on the car and plans on hitting the track when he can. One thing’s for sure, Martin’s Mustang is the kind of family treasure that any gearhead would be proud to own.

About the author

Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. Brian enjoys anything loud, fast, and fun.
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