With all the buzz around the X275 class and excitement it brings, it isn’t too hard to understand why more and more people are getting involved in it. This is all too true for Bethpage, New York resident Chris Morici. Last year, Chris couldn’t take sitting on the sidelines anymore and decided to dive into the mix for the 2012 season. But he did what few would do to get there: he started his build with an all-original weekend warrior street car, a 1996 Mystic Cobra, number 1,676 of 2,000.

So off went the car to see Mike at M.I. Performance for a 25.3-cert roll cage. While there, the car received double adjustable shocks and struts from Strange Engineering and Wilwood drag brakes all around. Helping guide this ground-up build were Colin, Kevin, and Jeff over at S.K. Speed, and Mark from MMR. Part of the upgrades included a Fab 9 housing with 40-spline gun-drilled Moser axles. The car will sit down on a set of 3.5” x 17” Weld 2.0 Alumastars on the front and Weld Magnum 15” x 12” wrapped in Mickey Thompson 275’s on the rear. Tom Sarrapede and John Willie will be the guys working on the car while Chris readies himself to pilot it.

While the Mustang was at the chassis shop, a motor was being put together to stick in front of the new Powerglide transmission. With this car and engine combo, Chris is sure to stand out from the typical Mustang crowd. He decided to go with a 283 cubic inch Modular motor topped with FR500 heads, a Sullivan intake, and a Wilson 105mm throttle body. Holding the bottom end together is a set of billet Manley connecting rods and Manley pistons. They are still short a few pieces to complete the motor, including the cams, and they’re hoping to grab a sponsor to help them out with that. Chris, from Chris Alston’s Chassisworks, is providing the custom crank drive setup for the ProCharger F1-X which will feed air through a Precision PT 3000 intercooler. Handling the needed fuel delivery is an Aeromotive belt driven fuel pump and Aeromotive regulator. Keeping everything is check will be Nick Mancuso tuning on the F.A.S.T. EFI system and using the Racepak setup for information.