The Shakedown
I’ve had a lot of cheap cars in my day but never in a million years would I have spent five thousand dollars on a rusty Mustang II. From the looks of the peeling paint and the rust bubbles along the wheel arches it’s safe to say this car has seen better days. I hope the 302 under the cheesy hood sticker isn’t half as tired as the body. It was no surprise that the dome light didn’t come on when I popped the door open but the new chrome shine of a T-handle shifter did catch my eye. It was probably cheaper, or less embarrassing, than tracking down a factory replacement, either way it was mine now. I tossed by duffle into the back and slid onto a well worn bucket seat, not worn in a bad way, it was strangely cozy.
I cranked the old pony for twenty or thirty seconds before remembering that not all cars have electronic fuel injection. After a couple of pumps on the gas pedal I swore I heard the choke set but I leaned my toe into it a little just in case. The V8 fired to life and revved to three grand before the shock of it settled in and I pulled my foot off of the gas. A slight vibration rolled along with the revs, this couldn’t be a stock motor, not making this kind of noise and idling this rough. Not unless the EGR valve was stuck open a tad. Another quick blip of the throttle and she was purring like a kitten.
The dash lit up as soon as I pulled the headlight knob and a cluster of gauges pulsated in front of me. Oil pressure was hovering near 25psi, fuel pressure steady at 15, temp still cold, full tank of gas, ammeter sitting at zero, nothing too out of the ordinary. A quick tap and the amps slid into the positive and bobbed with the lump of the engine. There was definitely more to this car than I realized and a slight grin spread across my face as we eased out onto the parkway, sideways.
We cut around the bypass and headed for New Cut Road, the twistiest two miles around. From stop sign to stop sign in 93 seconds wasn’t a personal best but for a shakedown run it wasn’t too shabby. I flipped her around to go uphill this time and waited for the rear to settle. I eased out the clutch, brought the revs up to match, and the Cobra bit into the pavement launching us through first gear. Over the crest of the first incline I up shifted to second and pushed the hammer down approaching the first left hander. Not even a squeal as the front end dug in and set us over the apex. Steady into third around a wide sweeping right hander with just a little under steer that was quickly overcome by lifting the gas slightly. Hard braking into a 90 degree left, back on the gas and into second gear as the tail slid around a degreasing radius right hander. Up into third again as the road straightened out, flat through the slight left hand kink almost to the limiter as we break the tree line. Hard brakes, downshift to second and accelerate out of another 90 degree right uphill to the stop sign. 87 seconds. No complaints from the car, plenty of grip, what a ride.
We sat for a second and I could start to smell the brakes overheating behind the wheels. One more test to go. We drove past the diner on the way to the bypass, the fastest way to the Motorsport Complex. We hit the exit ramp in the top of second and I rolled into third as we merged onto 95 south and put the pedal to the metal. 70, 80, 90, 100, 105, 110, …115, …….120, ……..125, ……… and lift to make the exit ramp for Montgomery Motorsport Complex. Not much on top speed but she handles well for a tired old pony.
