November 15, 2016
Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
(Part 3 of a 3-part series) John McComb ordered a new car for 1967. The choice was easy. Given his success in the 1966 Group 2 Mustang, he ordered a new notchback for 1967 to pick up where he left off with the Shelby program.
The 1967 Mustang was the model’s first major redesign and the car gained both size and weight. McComb didn’t care for either.
“Even though the ’67 car had a wider track, it was a heavier car, so I don’t really think the wider track helped,” McComb said. “The ’66 car was just a very reliable, quick car. I always thought the ’66 car was better than the ’67 anyway.“
While awaiting delivery of the new car, McComb pulled his old mount out of the garage to start the new season. The 1966 car still ran strong, competing at the Daytona 300 Trans-Am race on February 3, 1967 and in the 24 Hours of Daytona the following day.
RACING’S GREATEST UPSETS: Trans Am’s 1966 Pan-American Endurance Race (Part 2 of 3)
October 20, 2016
Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
The next weekend John McComb was racing again. The Trans-Am Series Six-Hour Pan-American Endurance Race was to be held at Green Valley Raceway in Texas. The sanctioning body mandated a second driver for each team due to the length of the event. McComb chose veteran Brad Brooker, a successful club racer who had logged plenty of miles in the Group 2 notchback’s nearly identical twin, the Shelby GT350.
Run entirely in a downpour late on Saturday evening, September 10, 1966, the Pan-American race would become an epic battle that still stands as the #12 Group 2 Mustang’s greatest triumph.
RACING’S GREATEST UPSETS: Trans Am’s 1966 Pan-American Endurance Race (Part 1 of 3)
October 5, 2016
Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
On a hot summer afternoon in late August 1966, the telephone on John McComb’s desk rang.
On the other end was automotive design engineer Chuck Cantwell of Carroll Shelby’s legendary racing shop, calling with the surprising news that Shelby had a Mustang Group 2 racecar for sale.
McComb was delighted since his prior inquiries at Shelby had been met only by rejection. He had raced MGB sportscars for years but his first taste of Ford V-8 power came while driving Peter Talbert’s notchback Group 2 Mustang earlier that summer in the Trans-Am event at St. Louis. McComb and Talbert were leading the race until an exhaust pipe came loose, forcing them to settle for third place.
But McComb was already hooked. The car was more powerful than anything he’d ever driven. He wanted one of those Mustangs.
COLLECTOR CARS: Road Trip, 1971 Ford Torino vs 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass
July 2016
In 1970, everyone took a two week vacation once per year. It was as American as apple pie. Two of the era's great, economical mid-sized cars perfectly suited for such epic road trips were Ford's Torino and the Cutlass from Oldsmobile.
1974 DISCO ERA FACE OFF: Fiat X 1/9 vs Ford Mustang II
June 2, 2016
We don't always get what we want. Many 1974 sports car buyers still wanted a Mustang Boss 429 or a Hemi Cuda. What they got instead was a choice between one government mandated, smog controlled, regulation-laden nightmare or another equally pitiful bureaucratmobile.
ON THE TRACK: Mazda Miata, Toyota MR2 and Datsun Z Go Head to Head
May 3, 2016
When it comes to ranking great sports cars, the Japanese machines of the previous century are rarely considered. Yet in their day they offered performance and reliability that was nowhere to be found in Detroit's American competitors.
BACK IN TIME: A New York Watchmaker Turns Back the Clock to Re-Live an Automotive Memory
November 9, 2015
Keith Boschetti didn't have his driver's license.
It was the autumn of 1985 and his 16th birthday wasn't until the following February. But like every teenager in the 1980's, he wanted a car. And it had to be a muscle car that he could drive with pride.
COLLECTOR CARS: Rebuilding My Totally-Not-Collectible Mustang, Part II
October 12, 2015
Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
The next step in resto-modding my 1980 Ford Mustang is underway, and I am positively giddy.
At this point any rational person is thinking, “And why would someone be positively giddy about the most worthless, undesirable Mustang ever built?” I'm glad you asked.
THE RACECAR THAT NEVER WAS: Shelby’s Ultra Rare Group 2 Mustang
May 4, 2015
(Photos by Phillip Pietri, courtesy of Mecum Auctions)
On the morning of May 11, 1966, Carroll Shelby's crew went to work on their sixteenth Shelby Mustang SCCA A Sedan/Group 2 racecar. They would never build another one.
Ford’s Mexican 302 Engine
January 28, 2015
The Stephen Cox Blog is Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
After a Mexican 302-equipped Ford Torino crossed the block at Mecum Auctions recently, I've received a boatload of questions about these unique engines, their collector value, and how to identify them. Mexican 302's are a bit of an oddity, so I thought I'd pass along the answers in this week's blog.
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