Stage 1 of a Kind

Fiddlers. Futzers. Tinkerers. This is what we call those people who can't seem to leave well enough alone, even when we think it is. And boy, have we ever found a great example.

Let's put something in perspective, shall we? Roush Mustangs are some of the quickest and most desirable ponycars on the planet, possessing razor-sharp good looks and the thrust and handling to back them up. The model gracing our fair pages happens to be a 1998 Cobra with the Stage 1 package. Roush Performance confirms that fewer than 100 were made that year, which, when combined with the stunning performance of the 4-valve V8, is a killer combination.

With that in mind, you might react to these photos in one of two ways: by either applauding enthusiastically, or by asking why such a rare vehicle is absolutely slathered in trick colors and graphics. But if you do, don't fault La Habra, Calif., resident Ray Fernandez because he can't help himself. "Before I owned the Cobra, I bought a new 1999 Mustang V6 that I was really into fixing up," Ray starts. "It was a black V6 convertible with an automatic, and it was a really good looking car. I lowered it and put on a Xenon body kit, Eagle 17-inch rims, a dual exhaust system, and nitrous. But one day I decided that it was just way too slow."

It was soon after that revelation that 21-year-old Fernandez spotted this Stage 1 Cobra at McCoy Mills Ford in Fullerton. This is a man who loves body kits, and he was digging on what he saw, so the next day he came back for a test drive. It must have been a convincing one, because he instantly traded the base Stang for the more powerful, Roushified Cobra.

His urge to customize didn't end when he traded the V6, so Ray sent his new baby over to Morales Paint and Body in La Habra for a set of custom side scoops, and his door handles were shaved for that ultra-smooth look. Once he got his new project home, Fernandez jumped in on the outside by installing a 10-foot-long, electric blue graphics kit."That was really hard to do with no help," he admits. "I had to hold those things up against the car forever; it took four hours because I was too impatient to wait for one of my friends to help me. But it turned out okay in the end."

What was not okay, however, was his growing distaste of the tan interior."That tan was the one thing that I hated about the car," Ray spits. "In fact, I almost didn't buy the Stage 1 because of it. Even my girlfriend Ashly thought the inside was hideous."

Which would definitely be a bad thing after you just dropped a ton of money for an awesome ride. But lucky for both Ray and his girl, Manny, Moe and Jack came to the rescue."I was at Pep Boys one day when I walked past the interior paint display. I looked at some of the colors and thought, 'that would be cool to do myself.'"

So he did--Ray chose a few colors that he liked, then began the task of completely refurbishing a three-year-old interior. The OEM carpet was chucked and replaced with a black, molded carpet kit by ACC embroidered with silver Cobra emblems, and Fernandez sent the tan seats out to City Auto Top in Fullerton to be reupholstered in black and blue vinyl with white trim.The factory dashboard was taped off and then was painted a two-tone black and blue, with white A/C vents accenting the colors. White-faced gauges were added to the dash, and along with a 5-inch Auto Meter tach, they give Ray the underhood 411.

Speaking of the Cobra's mechanicals, it was around this time that Fernandez made a few changes to the drivetrain. A polished BBK cold air intake was slipped on, and a custom computer chip was added to take advantage of the extra air those intake valves were seeing. A Borla stainless steel exhaust system makes haste with the waste gases, and a set of 4.30 gears takes advantage of the rev-happy 4.6. This combination made 287 ponies at the wheels, with 290 lbs.-ft. showing up on the dyno. Ray got some driving practice in as well, and subsequent trips to the track have whittled his best times down from 14.4 at 98 to a 12.9 at 106 on slicks.

At this point, our protagonist had created a rare, fast head- turner, and he was getting tons of queries about his one-of-a-kind interior, so he thought he'd try the show circuit.A few high-zoot electronic devices like a stereo, a DVD player and subwoofers were purchased and installed, and a blue underbody light kit was added with strobes hiding in the marker lights.

Ray's not stopping there, either. His high-rpm antics have resulted in trashed rods, so the plan is to add billet connecting rods, port, polish and port-match the heads, and bolt up long-tube headers with an H-pipe. And after that ..."Hopefully I'll get a Vortech on there. I want to change the graphics, and I'd like to buy the Roush front pieces and customize them to fit the Cobra bumper. After that, I might want to go to smaller rims ...

So say what you like about altering a historically important Mustang--Ray's quick on the uptake. "There are a lot of Roush Mustangs out there now, but the way this one is fixed up, it makes it even more rare."