1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Three Quarters View

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - Antibody

Of course, the soul of any Pro Touring machine is its chassis, and Rick put his vast suspension know-how to good use. Up front, the stock control arms got swapped out for tubular Total Control Products units. In the rear, the antiquated leaf springs got chucked in favor of a RideTech four-link. The air springs, shocks, and sway bars are all courtesy of RideTech as well. Harnessing all the lateral g’s are 18-inch BFGoodrich meats that wrap around Budnik M5 wheels. As a car built to showcase the Baer product line, the Mach 1 got strapped with massive 14-inch rotors and six-piston calipers and each corner. “This car was built to make big horsepower, and lay it down in a straight line or around corners while looking awesome at the same time,” Rick gushes.

Once complete, the Mach 1 proved to be a smashing success at SEMA. “I love all muscle cars, not just Mustangs, so it’s very rewarding when people come up to me and say ‘I don’t even like Mustangs, but I love the cars you build,’ ” Rick says. That seems to be a popular sentiment, as the requests for his services keep rolling in. Consequently, Rick is planning on making the transition to building cars full time, and if you like what you see, look him up at www.RickFloresMotorsports.com. As it turns out, despite all the sheetmetal-tweaking and body-line-altering tomfoolery that seems to be in vogue these days, stock-bodied machines built in the Trans-Am tradition still resonate with many hot rodders. “Trends and fads come and go, but ultimately you can’t beat the body lines of a stock muscle car.”