In the realm of, “holy freaking horsepower Batman!” comes this video from Australia where a crew led by Aussie drag maven Darren Di Filippo has created what they call the “Top Fuel Mustang”. Running a blown and injected top fuel motor on 80%, the crew estimates that the car is creating somewhere around 6,000hp and can legit carry the title Top Fuel Mustang. They plan on debuting the machine at an upcoming PowerCruise gathering and then they will race it on a stiffer percentage of nitro at the Aussie SpringNationals which are in a month or so as best we can gather. Di Filippo is no stranger to nitro having run a top fuel dragster in Australia for years. He is also a well know jet car racer down there as well. His company DPE Performance Exhaust is a big brand Down Under and builds some really nice looking headers for a ton of applications. They have to be doing OK for him to have the financial suds to dabble in these projects!
Now, the car is really neat looking with the huge motor in the front and funny car style zoomie headers on it. It is right hand drive, like the vast majority of Aussie door slammers you’ll see down there on drag strips. The most interesting thing to us is the steering tiller. Instead of a wheel or a typical butterfly setup, the car has a control that literally looks like a u-shaped tiller with two necker knobs on it. You can see (who we think is) Di Filippo steering the car around the tight confines of the concrete pad it is on, whomping the throttle. We can honestly say that the design is completely new to us in a a race car and frankly the only thing that we may have seen something similar in is turn of the century horseless carriages. Hey, if it worked on a 10hp Olds back in the day, why not a 6,000hp “top fuel Mustang”.
Lastly, some of you will say, “Well the Super Chevy Show has had nitro coupes for years!” Yes, you are right. BUT, those guys ran like a 30% load and their machines are NOTHING like this car, most of the nitro coupe guys skipped the can entirely and ran alky after the series had been around for a few years, so this thing stands in a class by itself. Some of you may remember Don Wooten’s attempt at running an injected nitro pro mod in ADRL competition a couple years back. That thing was ankled by the NHRA mandating he use only a 50% load of fuel in the car. That makes for a weak sister of an injected car and he scrapped the project.
This car is absolutely effing awesome. From its fuel tank that appears to have about 100 gallons of capacity (exaggeration) to the completely insane and awesome exhaust note from the zoomie headers of a single plug, single mag hemi on 80% we suddenly feel the urge to get to Australia…right now.
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE WHAT IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE MOST POWERFUL DOOR SLAMMER DRAG CAR EVER CONSTRUCTED – THE TOP FUEL MUSTANG!
THIS …. is why I thought the A/Fuel door slammer idea was sooooo cool.
Ugh … those damn Aussies !!! Beating us to the punch ….. at our own game ……. AGAIN !!! Damn ! [ same goes for those damn Scandinavians as well }
those aussies get it done
Man! The Aussies are taking our favorite pass time and running away with it!! Way cool, Guys! So…..who’s gonna build one here?? ‘N’o ‘H’ot ‘R’ods ‘A’llowed won’t let it run, but WHO CARES??!
I dunno, but I’ve got a true ProStreet 109 inch wheelbase’d 1988 S10 that I’d love to drop that Hemi into … (I run in the NEFR-L) Not Enough Fundage Racing – League
xD LOL
dude. speechless.
I’m not much into engines but, If smokes coming out of three cylinders on one side shouldn’t the fourth cylinder be checked?
Go back to watching sports…..
Scott, that’s nitro for ya – very hard to light, so some of it isn’t burning at idle – depending on the “tuneup” they used just to start that beast and test the clutch with
Not smoke, raw (un burnt) fuel.
Who else noticed the STEREO mounted under the passenger seat? That car is bad ass!
Check the steering “wheel”
Hey the Steering wheel is on the wrong side! lol
That’s what I was thinking.
its on the right side – as opposed to the wrong side you guys have (lol) All Aussie cars are rh drive.
Oh, on the subject of Aussies – please don’t say ` down under ‘ especially not with capitals…makes us cringe….its up there with chucking a shrimp on the barbie for things Australians don’t actually say…..
Kinda more accurately describes the term “Fuel Coupe” to me.
that is awesome !!!!!!!!
The Aussies do have a grand time with their motorsports-doing it right “down under” with this fabulous Pony!!
anybody know the dates for that show….would almost make a trip to aussie land worth takin
YES!!!! I want one, Thanks for posting 🙂
Now that’s what we mean by Hotrod!
Reminds me of bunny hops in funny cars back in the good ‘ol days
I used to run with the Super Chevy Nitro coupes @ 20% load. Straight methanol was just as quick and fast. This is the way to go loaded up @ 90% !!!!
Did you get to run at Super Chevy from 2000 thru 2005? We may have saw you there – we won the Tremec Quick Stick Challenge in 2005 with the S10 I now have built as a ProStreet hotrod.
I remember seeing the Nitro Coupes run SCS @ Maple Grove back in the early 2000’s.
Looks cool (I’m a Bowtie guy so all Fords look alike). The one problem I see is no rear down force It will just blow the tires away at the hit. Not trying to piss on the parade.
It’s also missing the doors,or a front end. I’m sure when they get it built there will be down force.
Springnats is like a car festival in the vein of your CC Street Machine Nationals or similar. No actual drag racing but other events like Burnouts, Motorkhana among others.
http://www.autofest.com.au/springnats/
Just click on ‘Shepp’ for all the details
SICK SOOOO KOOOOL
Dual brodie knobs. Every true car guy dreams of this engine in their car. even the wife on seeing this thing went that’s insaniac cool.
Those Australians aren’t playing.
that engine would make around 3500-4500 hp. It is a single mag with a 5 amp mallery super mag (likely bumped up to 7 amps) looks like a Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car engine. No way 6,000 hp.
What a Ford. Now I know why Fuel Coupes was renamed to Funny Cars.
Can’t wait to see it in action.
Have you driven a Ford latly ?
The comment at the end of the video sums it up!
Don’t see any belts fastened. A guy had his awesome Chevy 11 out in his parking lot locally about 4 years back, blipping the throttle like this guy, throttle hung open, totaled the car and damn near killed him.
The steering is not practical at all
I’d be surprised if this thing ever makes it to a racetrack. The ‘Spring Nationals’ is a street car Street-Machine show (similar to Summernats in Canberra), not a drag racing event. I imagine it was built to romp around the show and do the odd skid whilst making everyone cry.
Still a cool ride though. One way to make everyone take notice of your business.
I had to check it out again, can you tell i like it? 🙂
Can I drive?? 🙂
We need to make a class of this. Nitro Slammers?