Barn Find Beauty: Mike Martyn’s 4,000-HP LDR ’65 Mustang Fastback

Mike Martyn has spent the majority of his life behind the wheel. Whether it’s paving Ohio’s roads with his business, MJM Trucking, or building the stunningly beautiful 1965 Ford Mustang fastback of his dreams, the 59-year-old entrepreneur knows how to keep the hammer down.

Growing up, Martyn’s father and friends all helped pique his interest in working on cars. His first ride – an air-cooled 1968 Volkswagen Beetle with no heat – wasn’t good for much other than “freezing his butt off” in winter, and he soon traded it for his first 1965 Mustang coupe. “That’s how I fell in love with Mustangs,” Martyn recalled of his teenage years. “Ever since then, I’ve had one after another.”

In 1985, Martyn purchased his first 1965 Mustang fastback and completely transformed it over the next 20 years. Going from running 15.50s in the quarter-mile at first to a full-blown tube chassis car capable of running 8.60s with a naturally aspirated 514 cubic inch big block Ford and a stick shift Liberty clutchless 5-speed transmission from a Pro Stock truck was definitely fun, but Martyn pulled the plug on the project for a surprising reason.

“I had a vivid dream that the car would hurt me, so I sold it in 2005 and bought a 1993 Mustang convertible,” he confessed of what felt like a warning. Shockingly, Martyn’s premonition did come to fruition, albeit with the Fox body instead of the fastback. “I was working on the car in my garage and the carpet caught fire – it stuck to my gloves while I was trying to put it out and burned my arms and my hands.”

Sadly, in addition to having to be treated for smoke inhalation at the hospital, Martyn’s Mustang and his garage were both a total loss as a result of the blaze.

After fighting with his insurance company for two years, Martyn took the paltry payment he received and purchased another convertible Fox body in 2008. “It ran high 7s and won just about every race, from NMRA and NMCA True Street to a lot of street races,” he laughed. “It had a small block Ford with a turbo, and I’ve been into turbos ever since.”

He had always wanted to build another ’65 fastback, but wanted something less “chassis car” and more “stock front frame rails, stock firewall, and stock shock towers” style to run in Limited Drag Radial. So, in 2017, after seeing an ad on Facebook where someone was searching for a setup similar to his successful Fox, Martyn sold it to fund his future Ford.

The convertible kept winning for its new owner in Oklahoma, too. Years later, Martyn got the chance to buy it back, but the deal went sideways after the car was stripped without either party’s knowledge. “It took some time and ended up as a junky roller, but eventually I was still able to get it,” he added.

Not long after the sale, though, Martyn stumbled across any enthusiast’s dream: a true 1965 Mustang fastback that had been tucked away in a barn. “It had started as a 3-speed, 6-cylinder car. I bought it from an old lady whose husband passed away, and the car had been sitting, covered with a blanket, with chairs and a porch swing stacked on top of it, for 30 years,” explained the excited racer.

After hauling out the “far from perfect” rusty Mustang from under the refuse, Martyn got to work. He saw its potential, and what followed was a seven-year journey through every challenge imaginable – Covid-19 delays, supply chain shortages, and endless late nights. “I didn’t compromise on anything,” he said. “Every time I look at it, it’s like seeing the rendering that was in my head.”

Built on an RJ Race Cars 25.2 SFI chassis with help from Terry Buza, Martyn did much of the work himself. Powering the pony is a 567 ci big block Ford (purchased from the late Keith Szabo) that’s built around a C&C Motorsports aluminum block.

Inside, Bill Miller rods and pistons ride on a Bryant crank, while Pro-Filer Performance cylinder heads with T&D valvetrain components grace each bank of cylinders. Of course, Martyn chose to stick with his preferred power adder for the project and bolted on a shiny set of potent twin HPT F5 88mm turbos.

The first-generation Mustang’s engine is backed by a Turbo 400 two-speed transmission from Virginia Speed Racing with a torque converter from Bubba Rafferty and Logan Sigman at 501 Performance/Perfect Converter Company. Next, power is transferred out to the Merillat 9-inch rearend and Mark Williams axles via a carbon-fiber driveshaft from Precision Shaft Technologies. Out back, Precision Racing Suspension shocks keep things planted, and Bill Lutz and Kenny Lutz helped get the setup dialed in.

“I plumbed the car myself, and I’m also running a Waterman fuel system with FuelTech injectors, TBM brakes, Lowdoller shock sensors, lots of Rife sensors, and a bunch of Motion Raceworks parts,” explained Martyn. “My friend Chris Gee was always there to lend a hand with everything when I needed it throughout the entire build, too, and I appreciate his help tremendously.”

Riding on RC Components wheels and LDR-legal Mickey Thompson 295 drag radial tires, the car is controlled by a Haltech Nexus R5 engine management system, which is tuned by both Kyle Dobbins and Paul Nadeau. “I’ve never run on big tires, but the chassis is built to accommodate them if I ever decide to go that route,” noted Martyn.

Every inch of the Mustang reflects pure craftsmanship. Although Martyn handled most of the work himself, there were plenty of others who had a hand – literally – in making the project possible. Shout-outs go to Devon Green for the custom headers, Jason Burns for the carbon, Victor Contreras for the wiring, and Daren Kravec at Tank Fab for “tons of trick specialty parts.”

The bodywork, however, hits hard for Martyn as he was contacted by Rick Green after having posted on Facebook that he was looking for an exceptional tradesman to do the paint prep. “I supplied the garage, heat, and electricity, but Rick supplied the talent,” he said solemnly. After the initial work was done in early April of 2024, Martyn disassembled the car, had the chassis powder coated, and started reassembly so Green could paint it. “Two weeks later, his daughter called me, crying, to say that Rick had passed away.” Ultimately, Martyn chose to have the fastback wrapped in its signature glossy deep purple hue in lieu of a traditional paint job.

In late 2024, after nearly a decade of dedication and hard work, Martyn was finally able to debut his finished work of art, which he aptly named “Mona Lisa,” but it wasn’t at the drag strip – it was at a car show.

The International Show Car Association’s 58th Annual I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama in Cleveland saw Martyn not only take first place in the Altered Competition Coupe/Sedan category, but he was also honored as the winner of the Outstanding | Engineered title. “That meant more to me than anything else because it was validation that the car wasn’t just pretty and shiny, it was fabricated correctly,” stated Martyn, whose workmanship impressed even the toughest judges.

Not long after, Martyn headed to the track for the first time with his fastback. Running at West Salem, Ohio’s Dragway 42 in the track’s Small Tire Wars Series in LDR trim, he immediately found himself in the winner’s circle. “I won four out of the last six races, two in 2024 and two in 2025,” shared the driver, rightfully proud of his accomplishments in the competitive eighth-mile category. Between seasons, Al Roth refreshed the engine, and Martyn also switched from an intercooled gasoline setup to a non-intercooled methanol configuration. “The quicker it goes, the easier it is to drive. It always goes right down Broadway.”

Given that the racers all voted not to show times during competition runs, Martyn is tight-lipped about sharing the specifics on his own personal best elapsed time, although mathematically-minded readers can likely guesstimate what his Mustang is capable of. “We have to weigh 3,080 pounds, it made 4,000 horsepower and 2,750 foot-pounds of torque on the dyno, and we’ve been 187 mph on only 37 pounds of boost,” Martyn hinted.

With his wife of 26 years, Jody, and their three sons and one daughter all by his side, family has always played a huge role in everything Martyn does. “As long as there’s food on the table and a roof over our heads, Jody doesn’t care how much I spend on the car,” he laughed. Their oldest son, Connor, helps run the family business, while the youngest, Chase, is Martyn’s right-hand man at the track.

And, it’s with his family’s support that he’s been able to build the car of his dreams, as Martyn’s Mustang is primarily self-funded in terms of both manpower and dollars. “There’s still plenty of room for sponsor stickers, if a sponsor would like to come on board,” he joked.

After so many years of work and countless hours in the garage, Martyn’s “Mona Lisa” 1965 Ford Mustang fastback is the antithesis of the fiery nightmare he once faced – it’s a dream come true, a lifetime achievement that’s ferocious and flawless, and equal parts horsepower and heart. “It came out exactly as I imagined. Thank you to everyone who helped build my dream car; I couldn’t have done this myself.”