SEMA '07 part three: a tale of two ROCKIN' Mustangs

(above) rock poster artist "Stainboy" Greg Reinel, of Orlando, FL,

with his '03 Mustang Mach 1
(above) what's under Greg's 'Stang's hood:
a modular 4.6L (281 cu. in. aluminum block)
dual overhead "cammer" V8
with functional Ram-Air "Shaker" hood
(above and below) Darrell Mayabb's drawings for
owner John Haugh's TRACTORRI 2007 V10 Lamborghini-engined Mustang

(above) yours truly, beside 'er

(photo by Darrell Mayabb)

(above and below) my photos of this magnificent grown-up pony

(all below) just a few of my photos from SEMA . . .

Mustangs everywhere

(below) yup, I'd take the keys to this one

(red, or orange, or psychedelic yellow, all the way)

Gotta say, one of the reasons I took on ROCKIN' DOWN THE HIGHWAY as a book project was on account of my buddy Greg Reinel, also known as the rock concert poster artist Stainboy. Greg is a rocker and a gearhead, and every day I worked on the book I must have thought to myself at least once, "what would Greg have to say about this photo . . . or layout page . . . or this particular story?" In other words, for the book to be successful, it had to resonate with guys like Greg. It had to pass their bullshit detector. Thankfully it did, and Greg contributed that beautiful full-page illustration of "Mustang Sally" on page 179 (you also can see him with his '03 'Stang on page 155).

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Now, speaking of Greg's Mustang, it's the kind of ride that brings people to SEMA to eyeball and oooh and ahhh. Now, to be clear, his wasn't on exhibition at this particular show, but it sure could have been. Here's why (and in his words):

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"Here are the specs for my 2003 Mustang Mach 1:

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"Engine: Modular 4.6L (281 cu. in. aluminum block) dual overhead "Cammer" V8 with functional Ram-Air "Shaker" hood. The Shaker scoop directs cool outside air through a duct into the filter box, which also pulls air in from the fender well.

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"Horsepower: Ford underrated the '03 Mach 1. Factory specs claim 305 hp @ 4,000 rpms. In reality, more like 325 hp, 330 ft. lbs. torque @ 4,000 rpm. Engine can rev to 8,000 rpm but rev. limiter kicks in at 7,000 rpm before you hurt yourself! Top speed *factory limited8 to 155 mph.

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"0 to 60: 5.2 seconds. 1/4 mile: low 13 sec. in capable (!) hands.

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"Gears 355:1. Brakes: 13 in. Brembo vented front, 11.7 Brembo vented in rear, with dual piston calipers.

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"Now, why do I love the late-model Mach 1? There are functional retro touches without the car being totally slavish to the past. This 'Stang feels like a full-on muscle car when you drive it, not a cushy modern interpretation. At the same time, you get modern handling and killer brakes. Scott Hoag and Team Mustang did an excellent job making this a cool street/strip car. It's a great street brawler with gobs of torque and it's a helluva lot of fun smoking up the tires, not to mention the view looking out over the Shaker hood! With a new sticker price under 30 grand (at the time), the '03 Mach 1 is/was a great bang-for-buck, and there're endless aftermarket performance parts available to make these Mustangs real monsters!"

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Thereby, fully SEMA-qualified.

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At this '07 show, there was also the Darrell Mayabb-designed TRACTORRI Lamborghini-engined Mustang. As you all know by now, Darrell illustrated ROCKIN's book jacket, and is a famed graphic artist working out of Arvada, CO. Darrell designed this Mustang for owner John Haugh of Cleveland, OH. He worked closely with Rick Roush and the team at R&H Collectibles/Rick Roush Engineering, also of Cleveland.

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Of particular note, of course, is the engine: a 5.0L dry sump V10 Lamborghini, cranking 520 horsepower. It's drivetrain is a permanent 4-wheel drive, with a robotized sequential E-gear transmission activated via paddle-shift. The suspension is aluminum double wishbone front and rear, anti-roll, anti-drive, and anti-squat.

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Darrell dragged me (but not kicking and screaming) over to the PPG booth where it was on display. The paint is indeed PPG "Tractorri" (it will never be used on another car). It was painted by Doug Uchbar at Friedman Collision in Eastlake, OH, in tri-coat white and base-coat red with a clear coat overall. The overall impression is . . . niiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!! Love the way the striping is proportioned.

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The car's name, Tractorri, comes from Lamborghini's history (originally the company was a tractor manufacturer). There's a famous story that Ferruccio Lamborghini (4/28/16 -- 2/20/93) owned a Ferrari sports car but noticed that some of the clutch components were suffering recurring reliability issues, not unfamiliar to Ferrari's apparently. When Mr. Lamborghini approached Enzo Ferrari with his criticism, he was rebuffed, and in fact insulted. Mr. Ferrari indicated that "a tractor manufacturer was not qualified to criticize Ferraris." Affronted, Lamborghini decided to build "better Ferrari's than Ferrari," and so the sports car company Lamborghini came into being. And in 2007, this magnificent Lambo-Mustang has come full circle, and is indeed "the tractor."

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Howard Walker, writing for RACER Magazine, and reprinted at http://www.speedtv.com/articles/automotive/lifestyle/41390/, alled the Tractorri one of SEMA's legitimate show-stoppers. Here's part of what he penned:

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"Let's go for the grand-daddy of cool, the car that surely every serious car guy with the high-test running in his blood would love to have in his garage--and that's John Haugh's Mustang-Lambo.

It's what happened when you have w-a-y too much money and a slightly warped imagination: you go out and buy a brand new $200-grand Lamborghini Gallardo and a brand-new Mustang GT and let them fool around together.

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"The result is a supremely stock-looking Mustang that just happens to have a 520-hp, 5.0-liter Gallardo V10 in the back seat driving all four wheels, with Lamborghini suspension, brakes, and sequential-shifter transmission. Hough says he (had the car built) "to make people smile."

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"The subtlety of the thing is remarkable; only the 19-inch Gallardo wheels at each corner, the Lamborghini brake calipers, and the view of the big V10 beneath the rear window, hint at the Mustang's Italian-stallion roots. Those, and the rasping, screaming V10 yowl that hits you when Haugh blips the throttle."

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Everywhere I looked at SEMA, there were great Mustang adaptations. It would have made Greg Reinel feel right at home. Greg, meet Darrell. That's the beauty of a show like SEMA.