[HOONIGAN] Chris Harris on Ken Block's Gymkhana SEVEN AWD 1965 Mustang (The Hoonicorn!)

Hi, I'm Ken Block. I'm here with a new project of mine, the Hoonicorn RTR, because I'm a much better race car driver than I am a technical speaker. I've brought in someone special to do that technical talk for me, Mr. Chris Harris. As a seasoned automotive journalist, I rarely get on a plane so as not to drive a car, but I will make an exception for this extraordinary creature. What you see here is a visual and physical representation of Ken's interior and the head of his

hoonigan

team. When trying to define this vehicle and understand it, you should really listen to the people who created it.

One of Hunigan's team members previously described it to me as 25 5% DTM 25% TransAm 50% Hot Wheels, so his fantasy meets the idea of ​​Creating the Ultimate Car gives you some numbers, we love some numbers, does he? It is not like this? 850 horsepower from, for the first time, a normally aspirated engine, a 6.7L V8, revving at approximately 8000 RPM. I've heard it, wait until you hear it. It's extraordinary. It's basically a NASCAR engine, but even though it has a very defined aesthetic, it's really very much a case of form following function because we have this V8 placed so far back in the chassis that it's effectively a front mid-engine like a Ferrari.

F12 actually allows the half shaft to be in front and the differential in front of the engine, so this is an 850 horsepower V8 rally car because Ken wanted that four-wheel drive, that's what defines Jim's car from the videos, the four-wheel drive. throwing it at ridiculous speeds and ridiculous angles. I need you to come and look at this now, so here we go, look at the engine way back, meaning the front mid engine, the axle line is there, okay, we have this frame completely custom made, so it's kind of space frame and down in the front, look at this, this is just pornographic, fully internal suspension with pushrods, infinite adjustment, massively strong, huge, big, double wishbones, it's double wishbones all around, now I know it looks beautiful in retro with these tall batteries. and you expect to see some carburetors and I know these V8s sometimes don't look like the most modern ones out there, but this is pretty misleading, so you have individual throttle bodies on top here that are absolutely beautiful.

Taking a look at this, now you can see the movement and then you have Motch management executing everything, it's a very, very slick operation. I've also been reliably told that the reason for the V8's characteristic slightly grinding noise is a firing order situation, so you need the perfect sounding engine for the car that goes perfectly sideways. This thing is internet gold, so what's left of the Mustang and the answer isn't much. You have an A pillar that is an A pillar and you have a B pillar and you. I have a roof and when I asked the guys who made it what it was beyond a '65 Mustang they all scratched their chins and looked at the roof because the rest is completely custom made and absolutely beautiful, well let's get to the cabin now I hate to say this but we are doing this when Ken is not here this is his seat and he doesn't allow anyone in here but I'm going to do it anyway this is cool inside we have the most beautiful custom made carbon dashboard.

I am reliably informed that 500 hours of work have gone into creating just that. I mean, these are absolutely gorgeous custom-made Honigon analog gauges and then of course here we have Hunigan's signature handbrake lever that's connected to a clutch. which is so clever when you pull it it disconnects the front drivetrain and only locks your rear wheels that Ken uses this to quite dramatic effect as we know the transmission here is a sad gearbox now unless you really you like rallies you wouldn't have heard of. them, but they are a french company that makes mac daddy transmissions and this is their strongest unit which is actually found in the dhar rally car so it is enormously strong.

One thing you should also know is that the driving position is comfortable but it is low and the speed The batteries are obviously a source of joy and wonder to behold, but they are right in the road, so this is a pretty wide car. and physically larger than the Fiesta he used before. I don't think it's that easy to play with a car, so watching it drift inches away from something is even more impressive because you can't really see much sitting here, of course, it's full of GoPros because it's all about filming, so It's a mobile studio everywhere you look, there's a GoPro covering a move.

Now I don't know much about the

1965

Ford Mustang, but I don't think the original had a shifter that said Donuts. By the way, the weight is around £3000, which in European cash is about 1360kg, which is plenty of power. to weight ratio, let's talk about rubber, the largest tire ever included on a

hoonigan

car, a Jim Cara car, here we have two 9530 ZR1 18s, but they are a pelli P0 trao R on a special compound a little harder for a little less grip because this is not about lap times, a little more smoke comes from them, but best of all they come out of a mold and have Ken's name on them.

I have to say that when Pelli put your name on a tire, you kind of arrived in paradise. As for the wheels made by 1552, they are an 18-inch three-piece wheel and as you can imagine, they have to be pretty strong because they take a ton of abuse. Let's go aside. Here we have an escape, surprisingly, the same thing is happening. on the other hand, I think there is no muting here, the noise this thing makes is absolutely extraordinary to me, that's what makes it an even more interesting project than the previous ones. Well you can make a turbocharger 4 sound pretty amazing with anti-ag. and all kinds of things happen, but this with all the noise, honestly, the crew just stops when filming continues because it's extraordinary, it's actually violent, right behind.

I would like to say that this wing exists for downforce, but no. Not at all, it is completely aesthetic, it has no other reason than to look good. Brian is there, who is part of this project, he is shaking his head, but he knows I am telling the truth, but he has a look, isn't that what I love about the car? It's squatted, it's recognizable as a Mustang, but it just sits on the deck and when you see it move, God, it looks low but subtle, so they took the suspension and didn't force it too much, you get a lovely move and you're in the car. which gives the charging speed language, you can see right now I actually sat in it while Ken was driving it, boy does it feel fast, does it feel violently fast, like it's trying to hurt you?

In fact, the best quote of the day was when we left the car office and Ken just looked at me and said, this thing spends most of the day trying to kill me, come with me, check out some gizzards, check out some stuff. inside, okay, it's amazing and It's not really a very original Mustang here, but it's still impressive the internal suspension to make room for this transmission. In some respects you can see this vehicle as an engine and a transmission around which they have installed other things that look a little like a Mustang, an incredible suspension, so you have huge double arms, a huge frame here, as well as a very small fuel tank because you don't need a lot of fuel on a Jim Carner set and a lot of film equipment, now they didn't want me. to show that, but I think it's really important because this is a car that's working, it's in the middle of filming right now, of course, it's littered with camera equipment, like someone who films themselves a lot.

I am surprised at how clean and thorough the facilities are. Do you think it is not like that? This thing really has so many cameras. Is incredible. No, it's a work of art. I have to say it really is a work of art. Okay, so why a Mustang? Well, first of all, why not a Mustang? It's the 50th year of the Mustang, unless you lived on Mars you would have seen some promotional activity, this seemed like the perfect time to do it, of course it was also the first small muscle car and it had a V8, so how You go? about doing it right it's a big project so first of all we also have the general idea of ​​Ken with his Hunigan team and then you need some knowledge well he is best friends with Vaugh Gon Jr who knows so much about how to turn

mustang

s into performance. show cars like any we know, but here there are two wheel drive and this had to be four wheel, so we had this collaborative project where they went to RTR, which is the bnn company that makes these incredible vehicles and they work together to create This is behind us and it really is quite special, so it's an impressive set of aesthetics and it's an impressive piece of engineering and it's possibly the coolest Mustang ever built, but if you haven't seen it yet, you need to see it. this