We've all heard stories of former diehard Chevy guys coming to their senses and buying Mustangs. Usually, it's because they're tired of getting whipped by Mustangs, so they end up joining the fun by purchasing one of their own. This scenario was rampant back in the 5.0 days, but it has lessened somewhat today since the Camaro has had the Mustang's number for a while. But just watch-once the '03 Cobras start putting the heat on the competition (and without a new Camaro from the Chevy camp), you can bet the number of converts will surely rise.
Doug Crook from Winter Park, Florida, was one of those Chevy guys. He caught the Mustang bug from childhood pal and 5.0&SF ad salesman Brian Sexton [Fortunately, Doug doesn't take any *NSYNC hair-styling tips from Brian.-Ed.]. Brian owned a trooper car back in the day, and he and Doug would cruise Panama City Beach in search of races. The two would cash their checks on Friday night and head to the beach trying to make a little extra dough. "I've been a Mustang fan ever since," Doug says.
But even though all his buddies owned Mustangs (this should've been his first clue), Doug wanted to be different, so he bought "a rather abused Corvette from a friend." We think he learned two lessons from this. First, he shouldn't have bought a car from a friend, and second, he should've just gotten a Mustang and been done with it. Doug says the Corvette was quick, but it was a pain to maintain and expensive at the same time. After trading it in for an LT1 Camaro Z28, he found out his Mustang buddies had gotten faster, leaving him no other choice but to join the Mustang ranks. "I just couldn't keep up since there weren't many aftermarket pieces for the LT1s at the time," he says. "[The next car] on my list was definitely going to be a Mustang."
Wouldn't you know it-when Doug finally came around to getting a Mustang in late 1995, Ford would be making his 5.0 dreams disappear with the introduction of the 4.6 modular engine. Thinking he'd have to go backward to cure his Mustang fetish by searching for a 5.0 coupe, Doug located this '95 GTS in September 1995. "I drove the car off the dealer's lot to the nearest speed shop," he says, "where I placed my order for Flowmasters, underdrive pulleys, a K&N filter, and 3.55 gears. Since I already had so many friends with Mustangs, I knew where to begin with the modifications."
After the initial hit of power goodies, Doug progressively added the usual heads, cam, and intake bolt-ons. "Before I knew it," he says. "the car was turning 12s on street tires." Once he became accustomed to the power, he added nitrous for an extra hit. Doug says, "After a shifting error [That's what it's called?], complemented with the 150hp shot of nitrous, I ended the life of the factory short-block." This led him to give up the gas and add a Coast High Performance 347 to another stock block.
Before taking the car to the track, Doug added an S&W rollcage and filled the factory 8.8 rearend with Moser 31-spline axles, 4.10 gears, an Auburn Pro differential, and a TA girdle. With this new combination and the grip of slicks, he ran a best of 11.9 at 114 mph. Meanwhile, he drove the car daily with functioning A/C and power steering. "I also managed regular 60-foot times in the 1.59-1.62 range without the aid of a drag suspension," he says. This was done by side-stepping the clutch at 5,500-6,000 rpm.
"It wasn't too long before this practice caused the factory T5 to go south," Doug says. He replaced the T5 with a Tremec TTC 3550, driving the car for two years while seeing regular trips down the track. He even entered the car in a few FFW races in the Street Stock class (now Street Bandit), but he found himself outmatched by the race cars that dominated the class. "I did, however, manage a best finish of Fifth Place at Atlanta one year," he says.