Revology 1968 Mustang GT 2+2 Fastback Cobra Jet

where this really feels like a complete package, you know, this is a classic example of all the fun between 40 and 100 mph, yeah, you know, when I read about cars that have 260 TP, you just go to prison, they just put you in jail for the rest of your life. life would rather have this than a McLaren I think a lot of people life yes, it's at any speed, really yes, welcome to another episode of Jon's garage, the car featuring today the

1968

Ford Mustang Cobra Jet GT, this is a reproduction of everything in this car. it's new it's a fascinating story uh let's meet Tom Scarpello Tom haai good job here well thank you very much Jay this is what you would call A reproduction rather than a replica right well we don't like the term replica because a replica is an exact copy and this is really a reproduction, it has the DNA of the original 68 Mustang, but it has evolved with modern technology, it has not taken the original 390 and it is even a new engine, it is the current production Ford Mustang GT engine. the same one that goes on the cars in Flat Rock oh, okay, and what's the horsepower on this one?

Well, this one is supercharged, so we make a naturally aspirated and supercharged version. The supercharged engine in this car makes 710 horsepower, that's pretty good, pretty good and probably a lot lighter than the modern equivalent with 710 horsepower, that's about U 320 pounds lighter than a 2022 Shelby GT500, which would be the Closest modern equivalent of the Mustang. It looks amazing and as you say, everything here is new, you use the original chassis. well we don't, we actually build new bodies in house, we do it ourselves, oh this is a new body, i.e. we buy the sheet metal, but we assemble it in-house, so we actually do it all.

Of the fixtures, we have designed all the fixtures to build the body in-house, all the spot welding equipment is automated that way, we can have the dimensional integrity at an extremely high level and also the quality of the weld. Now, if I had a '68 Mustang that I've had since high school and it was sitting in my garage and I dragged it to the shop, could you redo it or would you just make it new? Well, we only build the cars to spec, so every car we build now, we have built and delivered over 190 cars to date, in almost 10 years of operation, right, yes, we have really grown a lot, we now have 120 employees at our factory in Orlando, Florida and we actually build the cars to a specification and they are built on an assembly line.

There are 26 stations starting with the unibody. Where we call it the frame station where the sides of the body meet the floor and it starts to look like this. a real car and it goes through the process and that way you know that every car built on the same platform allows us to control the quality and make it more efficient, make sure that we have technicians who are specialized in those specific aspects of the assembly to do it correctly. the same way every time and really get the best possible result, because in most circumstances you leave your car for a restoration and come back 18 months later or whatever and that's it.

How many cars do you produce per year? uh, now we're making 60 cars a year. 60 cars, well that's pretty impressive, so tell us a little more, so this is a new body too. It's a completely new body, is it different in terms of specifications? Looks like a '68 Mustang to me, with all the '68 Mustang parts that fit this. Yes, yes, many of them actually already know us in terms of the design that we try to have. as faithful as possible to the aesthetic of the original design and only deviate where we have to for functional reasons, so if, for example, the wheels, you will notice that the wheels on this car are significantly larger than the original ones, those were 14 inches but we want to get a modern brake package so we need a larger wheel so this one is a 17 and the rotors are a little over 13 inches in diameter so it's a good brake package modern size and we think the 17 inch wheel is a good balance.

I know aesthetically, it doesn't go crazy like some kind of Resto mod, but I still want to say it looks similar and what BR, what brakes do you use, we use Willwood, yes that's what we use, yes, they are really fantastic. They are really fantastic, okay and there is no problem getting 17 inch tires, eh, you know, there are not many options available, but we can get 7 well made ones. I mean, do you order these tires? Do you make them specifically? No no. They are factory tires that were designed for a car that originally ran them that size.

Okay, can we open the hood? Let's take a look at what we have here. Oh, that's a very nice package, isn't it? Check it out. and this is the same engine that is in the Ford GT, it is the Mustang GT engine with the Rous supercharger, so it was designed as a factory engine package by Rous, so it has the same drivability that you would expect from any modern engine, you know, even though it makes 710 horsepower, it idles smoothly, it will sit in traffic with the air conditioning on for hours without problems and there is no problem meeting emissions, emissions are standard and you can't get out either with yours. it has the ability to meet emissions now we don't have catalytic converters on this one we just don't have the package space for them but it is capable and its stock form met emissions correctly but it's a 68 do you register for a 68 ?

Well, it depends, so we can do it in two ways. One is that you know the example you provided. If there is a donor vehicle, then it would retain the identity of that donor vehicle. The other way is because we can build the complete cars, we can build them as a rolling chassis and then it can be registered under the replica car rules, that is, you buy the rolling chassis, you buy the drivetrain, you attach them and you register it as a replica. We do it both ways, yeah, when I bought my Gordon Murray rocket, the little car that was there, 20 years ago, I had to bring it in six different boxes and I had to have pictures of me putting it together, yeah, and then I went to the DMV, look here, I put it together, oh, okay, and it was okay, so it's basically the same thing, mhm, right, it looks tight, but it fits really well in there, doesn't it?

Yes, it's a tightening of the gasket is one of the biggest challenges we face because you know modern technology in general is physically larger, so you have the engine with four valve heads, four cams, you know, compared to the old, you know, two valve heads. single cam in the block um you know the transmission you know we use a six speed manual or a 10 speed automatic compare it to a four speed manual or a three speed it's physically a lot bigger that's a bit of a challenge , I know it's fun to see four cams on a Mustang because when I was a kid you could get the regular Ferrari or the alloy car with 4 cams and that seemed like the most exotic thing in the world to me, yeah.

So now it looks like you have it in a Mustang, which is cool. What is your weight distribution? It is more or less the same as the original. Well, it's better. In our naturally aspirated car we are almost 50/50, it's 50.5 49.5 right on the supercharged. version uh, it's 5248, okay, but I still think it's very good. I mean, we worked hard to get the engine this far back in the CH. I have my 60 challenge in there with the 426 which is like 6040, it's like you're going around the corner. Hey, you're just plowing to the bottom, but hey, I like these, uh, these you do, these are all Billet.

I guess so, so we got them, we didn't design them well ourselves, but they seem functionally strong. I usually only have one, you know, and then the wind catches it and bends it back over the windshield, oh yeah, which has happened to me numerous times. One thing I should point out while we're here, um, one of the What we think makes us unique is that we really focus on using OEM components, so obviously the engine transmission but also the cooling system, this is actually the Right electric radiator fan on the current Mustang GT, everything you know, hoses and everything we had to redesign. the main support so we did it to ensure the engine has proper cooling in all conditions and we have cars all over the world.

Some of the hottest places on Earth, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, as well as Arizona and Florida, never had a cooldown. problem, we really focus on using OEM parts whenever possible. You know, it's funny because this seems to be the natural growth of this industry because the number of times I had people tell me we were building this and I walked in and never. the horn never works oh yeah yeah we have to plug that in we have to plug it in and the customer comes out and there are some other things that don't work it's leaking or there's always something you know where it sounds like you guys have an assembly line process virtual almost like the factory and each workstation they manage how it works well.

We, you know, there are a couple of things, one is that our platform is a derivative of the platform that Ford used from 1964 and A2 until 1970. Original Mustang uh dimensionally it's the same but functionally it's very different so we use a front suspension dual Wishbone um we use a three-link rear with a torque arm and Panhard linkage for lateral stability um we have our own electrical architecture uh but every car we build has that same platform, we've been able to develop and refine it, you know, over time , so if I came in and wanted to buy this car, how long would it take me to build this car right now?

It's about 6 months, oh, that's not bad at all, you know, with this, you know, a customer can come test drive a car, they know exactly what they're going to get, they know how long it's going to take them, they know how much they're going to pay. Yeah, it's funny because every time I talk to younger people who aren't car people but want a classic car, why is it so hard to drive? Why do I have to press the brake so hard? Well, that's how it used to be, I mean, but they never drove those kinds of cars, so they don't really relate to that.

You will get a new one. All you won't receive are the original brakes. Who just upgraded and painted the calipers. I mean, everything is new. Yes that's fine. Well, you touched on the key topic of vehicle dynamics, so vehicle dynamics, of course, is how a vehicle responds to driver input, powertrain output, operating conditions, you know, the Vehicle dynamics has come a long way, yes, and you, between the '60s and '80s. Just a huge jump and you know it's declined since the late '80s and early '90s, but you know people who hadn't previously experienced These cars, they don't know, they have no idea what their reference point is.

You're way up here and what's your experience? You are an engineer by trade. I'm not an engineer. I studied business. Alright. I joined Ford Motor Company as a production supervisor at the Wayne Assembly Plant in 1988 and stayed with Ford for 17 years in a variety of manufacturing sales and marketing positions, so you just make Fords right, we just make Mustangs, only 65 to 68 Mustangs and Shelby GTS from those model years, okay, and there is enough market for those, well, yes, but what you have to do. specialize in something you know, if you really want to do something well, you can dedicate the resources you really have to specialize and yes, there are many people who are very interested in what we do, in fact we have many repeat clients.

Currently, one in four cars that enter production is built for a current customer. Oh, that's interesting, obviously, Ford Motor companies on board. Ford has been very supportive. You know, Ford. It wasn't always like this. This is the same company that wanted to replace the Mustang with a front-wheel drive Japanese car, true, but the current management is very supportive, meaning they really understand and value their enthusiast base. They understand that Mustang is an iconic nameplate that transcends. Ford even supports me, so before we move on to the interior, something I want to show you, okay, it's very important, we put a lot of time and effort into this, but go ahead and grab the door handle and open the door, modern hinges and Latch Mechanisms Back in

1968

, if you opened one of these doors, it would be like a haunted house, it would squeak and you would slam and rattle, but we have actually gone to the trouble of designing modern hinges and latch mechanisms on the Vintage door and the door opens well.

I realized that when I open the door, actually before you got here, and boom, I'm not coming back because a lot of times people put new rubber in and then you're doing, you're doing. this all the time trying to flatten the rubber so that, you know, one of the things we focus on is all the non-sexy things, you know, things that make the car functional because you know a lot of people will talk about that , oh, we have a 000 horsepower motor or, oh, we have a carbon fiber fender,great, you get a sealed motor, it's new.

I mean, most people don't realize that a car has like 10,000 parts, all made by individual suppliers, whoever can go and it's not their fault, yeah, so you want to minimize that as much as possible, get a full wiring harness, yes, and you get a complete motor, you put it all together, no, I think it's cool, I mean I was more fascinated by the build quality when I read about these. It was necessary, I mean, I'm impressed with the car, but a lot of people make high-performance Mustangs, so everything goes well and generally goes very well, this one has 840 instead of 820, you know, but if you can't take it to the ground .

Indeed, what's the point? You know, this really feels like a complete package though. Thank you. I mean, I realize 300,000 is a lot of money, but would you rather have this than a McLaren? I think a lot of people might know that. It brings me some nostalgia, it's funny, you know, this is the classic example of all the bottoms between 40 and 100 times an hour, yeah, you know, when I read about cars that with a top speed of 260 you just go to prison, you're just in jail for the rest of your life now for that, you know, while this you can have fun, the cop sees you burning, it's not the end of the world, yeah, it's fun at any speed, really, yeah, we're a supercar, you really have to be.

Going at super legal speedsWell it just makes me smile because I was 18 when this car came out and I could never have afforded it. It was unattainable. It was like what $4,000 gets you, no one has $4,000. You're crazy, I know it, so it makes me smile when I get on. You know that well, Tom, thank you very much. What I like about this is like the second or third generation of reproduction, where the emphasis is on build quality, making it absolutely reliable, making it as good as any new car you can buy in terms of reliability , but I'm still having fun because the biggest complaint I hear from people is that they're just disappointed because it won't start, it's leaking oil, it's too much, no, there's always something wrong or something broken, you know, someone who can't build a car itself.

It's not mechanical, you also have here, you can have fun with modern reliability. I think most people would rather have this than a new car just because it's unique and you still get all the reliability. That's great, Tom, thanks. Thank you very much, my friend, J and thank you for doing this. I love that they built in the United States. It provides jobs and recycles American cars and makes them better than they were. Yes, it's

revology

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