If you pay attention to muscle cars on all of the popular auction shows, low-mileage cars generally bring more money than high-mileage ones. The thought of increased value has inspired thousands of gearheads to keep their cars in the garage, rather than use them as daily drivers . Special models and low production runs offer additional incentive to keep the odometer as low as possible. While the car on these pages isn't a special edition or rare model, it's super-clean with very few miles. At the time of the photo shoot, the '00 GT had just 8,568 miles on the clock and it still belongs to the original owner.
Bobby Lee drove this Pony off the lot in late 1999. Since then, he's averaged less than 1,000 miles per year, which is astounding when you consider his interest in making the car more powerful. Not long after he bought it, he installed a Paxton Novi2000 supercharger on the stock Two-Valve and ran it in this configuration for a few years. It made great power, but Bobby removed the supercharger when he decided to sell the car. Luckily, he didn't get any serious bites, so he kept the car and tried out a new combination. He planned to give his Mustang a big boost in power, and outfit the chassis with a host of aftermarket components to reduce weight and improve handling. Contrary to his preservative mindset, he didn't mind modifying the underpinnings or the power plant, as long as the car could potentially be returned to stock.
Bobby sent the car to Injected Engineering for most of its modifications, as Aric Carrion and his crew have a strong reputation in the greater Atlanta area. Bobby is from nearby Powder Springs, so he was a short drive away during the car's buildup. Injected Engineering started by installing a tubular K-member, tubular control arms and caster/camber plates, all from UPR. Coilovers with QA1 shocks ride on all four corners, as do BBS wheels, which measure 18x9-inches up front and 18x10-inches out back. Nitto NT555 rubber keeps the Mustang glued to the pavement, sized at 245/40R18 and 305/35R18. The rearend is the stock 8.8 housing, packed with a Detroit TrueTrac differential, Moser axles, and a 3.73 gear set. The UPR tubular upper and lower control arms keep the car stable, while the tubular subframe connectors provide the necessary rigidity.
For power, Bobby relies on a Two-Valve modular engine, which displaces 284 ci, thanks to a 0.020-inch overbore. Proline Racing Engines machined and assembled the Teksid aluminum block, installing a Cobra crankshaft, Manley H-beam connecting rods and a set of Diamond pistons. Obviously, the bottom end is forged to withstand the additional stress of boost, and the new pistons create a compression ratio of 9.8:1, which is perfect for Bobby's application. The cylinder heads are PI castings, ported by Chris Howe and fitted with oversized valves. Custom camshafts, which feature a distinct duration designated by the folks at Injected Engineering, produce plenty of lift and flow. Topping the mod motor is a Reichard Racing intake manifold.
Outgoing air passes through Ford Racing shorty headers, before flowing into the crossover pipes, which merge just before entering the Turbonetics T76 turbocharger. The Hellion single-turbo kit positions the turbocharger just in front of the engine, taking up every inch of real estate under the hood. An air-to-air intercooler allows for additional boost, while twin Ford GT fuel pumps and 60-lb/hr injectors make sure the engine lives through it.
Aric Carrion and Ryan Miller handled most of the tuning on Injected Engineering's DynoJet chassis dyno, and they used SCT software to dial in the tune. On 93-octane pump gas, Bobby's Mustang makes 571 hp and 584 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Believe it or not, the Mustang generally gets 17-20 mpg. Swapping to C16 racing fuel allowed the boost to be increased to 22 psi, which resulted in 674 hp and 659 lb-ft of torque. With this much power, the stock five-speed manual transmission is skating on thin ice, but Bobby's plan to keep the car on the street, which will hopefully save the transmission from certain destruction. He did upgrade to a Spec Stage 3 clutch and a Steeda shifter.
Aesthetically, Bobby's Mustang looks great with its aggressive stance and great-looking wheel-and-tire combination, but the body could easily be confused with a base-model V-6 car--no hoodscoop, no spoiler, no leather interior. Bobby sent the car to Jason Duggar at Performance Automotive when it came time to remove the spoiler and shave the original mounting holes. Jason then painted the decklid, matching the paint to the original Performance Red hue. The remaining body panels still wear the original coat of paint, which is in great shape. Moving to the inside, its all stock, down to the CD and cassette player--you won't even find an auxiliary gauge inside the car. The factory A/C is still in operation and everything still works, as you'd expect in a low-mileage car like this one.
With 8,568 miles on the clock, Bobby's Mustang is well on its way to being a collectible car, regardless of its lack of special options. The standard GT model suits Bobby just fine--and the fact that it packs 674 hp at the wheels. Although he is certainly against the idea of racking up miles on his factory-fresh Mustang, the car never fails to make him smile, whether he's polishing it or motoring down the road on a sunny day. It proves the determination to preserve his prized Ford paid off, even after nearly 12 years of ownership. Our biggest question is this--with a car that looks this good and makes this kind of power, how could you resist driving the wheels off this thing?
Bobby's Mustang is well on its way to being a collectible car, regardless of its lack of special options.