Freiburger Builds Up Hot Rod Garage’s Late-Model Mustang Into A Budget Autocrosser!


Freiburger Builds Up Hot Rod Garage’s Late-Model Mustang Into A Budget Autocrosser!

If there is one car in my recent history that is near and dear to my heart, it’s the 2005 Ford Mustang GT that I traded in for the Angry Grandpa Chrysler a couple of years ago. The Mustang was sitting on a used-car lot with a fire-sale price because they knew the car had been modded, but didn’t know how far. What scared them was like Christmas Day for me, because half of the modifications that car ever received were already done! It hit Speedworld’s dragstrip before the plates were on the car and that night not only went unchallenged, ripping off steady 13.6 quarters all night. By the time I made the decision to trade it in, the Mustang had been beefed up with good suspension parts, sticky Pirelli tires and EBC brakes, which I’ve used before. The car was an excellent canyon carver and great daily driver.

dammit

Seeing how most of the earlier “modern” muscle is now ten years old or so and is at a decent price level, it only makes sense that Hot Rod Garage would take notice and see what they could do on the cheap. Using a five-speed GT as their base car, they treat the build as a low-buck, high-return upgrade session. The black GT was treated to an EBC Brakes rotor set and pads, Ford Racing coils and wheels and tires sourced from AmericanMuscle.com (a Mustang owner’s paradise). Freiburger leads you through the finer points of the build process, such as not pointing the strut at your nuts as you separate the coil from the strut, and once it’s together he gives it a full workout at the top-secret autocross track. It’s a great start to a low-buck build that does improve the handling and performance of the S197 Mustang platform. And bonus, you get to see some of the upcoming Hot Rod Garage project cars (a Chevy van and a clean Chevelle) as well as watching DF and Finnegan doing their question and answer bit on the road in a Buick station wagon, freezing their asses off and having fun along the way.


  • Share This
  • Pinterest
  • 0

One thought on “Freiburger Builds Up Hot Rod Garage’s Late-Model Mustang Into A Budget Autocrosser!

  1. Nick D.

    “If I liked these tires anymore, they’d be beer.” Gee, Falken oughta consider that for an ad slogan.

Comments are closed.