1965 Ford Mustang - Horse Trader

Certainly no one can fault Scott Stites for his car ethics. Through the years he'd collected some valuable real estate but had decided early on not to own any of it. If a more desirable car or a better deal came along, or he needed cash equity to enhance his standard of living, he didn't hesitate to divest one property to receive another. Simply, he bought his cars as investments and apparently wasn't hampered by any of the emotion or sentimentality that is usually dragged along behind them.

Look at the desirables he's owned and look how he directed the proceeds from each to improve his family's quality of life. In '76, he bought a '65 Mustang convertible, restored it, and sold the thing for a down payment on his first house. He moved up to a '65 Sting Ray convertible, a 327/300, four-speed car, with the numbers in all the right places. Any mid-year Corvette drop-top is a solid investment. The proceeds from this car enabled the Stites family to lay the money down for that cottage on the lake. In '85, he bought his first new wheels, a Mustang GT that he kept for three years... until he needed a truck for work.

Next, there was an ASC McLaren Mustang, but it didn't last long. He sold it to finance his newest fetish, a '69 Camaro Pace Car convertible. The money from that car was applied to a matching-numbers '67 RS/SS Camaro with a 325hp 396 and a manual transmission. But it went away too, in the name of an '00 Saleen S281 supercharged Speedster. Its days were numbered before they even began. Scott sold it to build this '65 fastback, which he'd imbue with a relaxed Pro-Touring attitude.

We met Scott and his fastback Mustang in Columbus this past June, where we dared him to drag race it at the MSD True Street Challenge. We figured a car this sweet would avoid angry confrontation with asphalt, but owner and machine ate it up without drama, a 30-mile cruise and three back-to-back quarter-mile runs. The resulting low 13-second ETs were impressive for such a modest piece, so we knew we had to shoot it for you.

Stites hangs out in Ft. Wayne, Ind., but he had Jason Huber build the Mustang at G-Force Design Concepts in Chambersburg, Penn. When Huber separated the unit body from the sub-assemblies he discovered the (southern New Mexico-sourced) sheetmetal was virtually rust-free and that all the body panels were original. The G-Force team put the shell in a corner and began to prepare the undercarriage for its new role.

From the outset, Stites was bent on the Pro-Touring ethic-stuff is only there if it needs to be there. Bling would bring tears. The keyword here is function. We're talkin' table-flat handling, annihilator brakes, overdriven gears, and a smooth, torquey motor to maintain momentum. You'll also notice that all the modifications are no more extravagant than they need to be.

G-Force rebuilt the rear suspension around a 9-inch axle, four-leaf springs (with a 1-inch lowering block), Koni adjustable shocks, and Shelby traction bars. To add bending and torsional strength to the 40-year-old chassis, G-Force tied the front and rear of the Mustang together with Maier Racing tubular sub-frame connectors. The stock upper and lower control arms, but with relocated pick-up points (ala Shelby), work with two-inch lowering coils. The springs contain a gargantuan 620 lb-in rate and are paired with vintage red Koni adjustables. Stites also specified a hefty 1.25-inch Hotchkis anti-sway bar to work with it all.

The remainder of the suspension change-out included the Total Control Products adjustable bar and shock tower reinforcement system and the quick-ratio (16:1) Flaming River recirculating-ball steering box. The job of burning off energy in a hurry and recovering just as quickly lays with the Stainless Steel Brakes 13-inch and 12-inch disc brake packages. Before the calipers (four-piston front, single-piston rear) went on, Stites had SSBC whittle the surface with laser-cut G-Force logos. Though the rolling stock may seem a tad undersized, they were the perfect complement to this not-too-tough streeter and aren't any larger than they need to be. Budnik M5 rims (17X7, 18X8) carry serious but conservatively sized Bridgestone S-03 rubber (235/45 and 245/45).