Stop squinting your eyes at the nose of the red/yellow machine as it roars by and trust us, it’s supposed to be a Ford Mustang II hatchback. If you look back at IMSA race cars of the 1970s, you’ll understand how things got buck-wild with bodykits…especially with Chevrolet Monzas. You think wide-body kits of today are garish? Oh, man…the box flares of yesterday are something to behold. But the race cars had the power to back up the added bodywork, and the Monzas developed a reputation as an evil machine that could do no wrong. Naturally, if you are a Ford die-hard, this will rub you the wrong way. In the case of Charlie Kemp, he did something about it.

In 1976, Kemp built a tube-chassis car with an engine set further back than a standard Deuce, added a nose clip that was as round as he could get away with to counteract the Mustang’s flat face, and went all-in on 351-based builds, eventually going with Australian blocks as a foundation with Kinsler fuel injection. The suspension was composed of a stock M2 steering box without the power assist, heavy anti-roll bars, NASCAR disc brakes, and monster BBS wheels and Goodyear rubber. The entire exercise was to aggravate Monzas and to win. Ford didn’t have any hand in the build and IMSA had a huge hand in fighting the car at every turn. The Kemp Cobra II was fast, but with his temper wearing thin and the car continually being nit-picked, Kemp pulled out of racing.

This isn’t the Kemp Cobra II, but it is built to the same specifications. This car is known as the PDL Mustang and was campaigned by Leo Leonard in New Zealand. What little I’ve been able to dredge up on the car is that this thing was a monster and reportedly was a problem for some series down under too. We see no issue with that!