A couple weeks back leaving a 4th of July event I had to come to a complete stop as cows were being herded on the road right past me. I shut my car off so as to not spook them. All I could picture was a few of them stampeding and damaging my car. I was totally totally helpless, but very fortunately they all mosied right by me. As I looked in my rear view mirror waiting for them to get away from me I noticed a dark gray late model Mustang also stopped in the road. Leaving the area I could see he was staying right on me, I chilled for a few miles then started doing spurts only to have him run hard right with me. At one point when it was wide open picture perfect 5 mile straight away, no traffic I said "WTH" and lets say I took my Monte faster than I have ever before, was just shy of the OMG on my speedometer which comes after a buck forty. Suprisingly the Mustang was still with in a reasonable distance. So I eased it back down and since we were in canyons, just chilled till we came to the main highway.

He pulled up along side me and we kind of hey'ed each other. I could see his shaker hood and vinyl Mach 1 rocker panel graphics. We were bumper to bumper rolling about 50 mph uphill and laid into it, it was one of those shadowing moments and then my Monte just started pulling on him. I eased up as we got into traffic. After passing around the traffic, we once again lined up and got down to business. It was kind of scary as we were going down hill on a pretty curving roadway at about a buck ten. I dared not really push it as things can go wrong pretty quick, but I never let him pass me either, In about 2 miles the roadway leveled out and we were side by side at 65mph, I said okay now is the true rolling test, no uphill, down hill or traffic. We both had our windows down, his driver, my passenger, looked at each other , focused back on the road for about 2 seconds and then we both gave it our all. He was doing pretty good, but the Monte's turbocharged 499whp engine on 16lbs boost just pulled on him so hard, left him stunned I think. Don't even know my top speed, was so focused on the road. I let up and he pulled along side me and he gave me the thumbs up, and the he knew he had been beat wave. I was like well there, you had three chances.

Funny thing is I ran into him getting fuel on Sunday 2 days later. I pulled up to a pump and there is this charcoal gray Mach 1 sitting there. The guy comes out from the store with a freind and they walk over and he say's "I was just telling him about your car". He said I had a real sleeper in that he did not expect my car to behave like it did. He used to run Junior dragsters and kind of knew his way around fast cars. He said when he saw my Monte, he said to himself "This ought to be easy". We had a few laughs, popped my hood and such so he could see what took him out. It was cool talking to him about the race. In all fairness all he had done was a CAI, exhaust and a tune, other than that he was all stock. But his car is essentially one step below a Cobra, same heads and such. We will be friends from here on out, hope I see him again to run around with.

Here is some Mustang Mach 1 data.

Ford saw the value of heritage in the Mustang name and as a follow up, sought to revive the Mach 1 name. While similar to the Bullitt in the use of the Cobra's 13 in (330 mm) Brembo front brake rotors, unique Tokico gas shocks and struts, and lower and stiffer springs, the Mach 1 received a huge performance gain over the base GT and even the 265 hp (198 kW) Bullitt in the form of a unique variant of the DOHC 32-valve 4.6 Liter Modular V8. Commonly known by Mach 1 owners as an "R" code DOHC, (for the unique VIN engine R code) this all-aluminium engine features the same high flow heads as the 2003–2004 SVT Cobra, 2003–2004 Mercury Marauder, 2003–2005 Lincoln Aviator, and the 2003–2009 Australian Boss 5.4 L V8s (see Ford of Australia Boss 5.4 L), the engine also has intake camshafts sourced from Lincoln's 5.4 Liter "InTech" V8 to provide more mid-range torque. The Mach 1 engine had a 10.1:1 compression ratio in contrast to the 1999 and 2001 Cobra's 9.85:1, and the Mach 1 was equipped with a Windsor Aluminum Plant or WAP block unique from the Teksid aluminium blocks used in the 1996–1999 Cobras. The Mach 1 also featured a relatively high redline of 6,800 rpm (5-speed cars) and fuel cut off at 7,050 rpm or 5800 rpm (4-speed automatic). While on paper the 305 hp (228 kW) ratings seem a loss when compared to the 1999 and 2001 SVT Cobras which produced 320 hp (239 kW), in practice the Mach 1 engine produced similar peak horsepower and substantially more torque.

Further differences included the use of Ford's 8.8-inch (220 mm) solid rear axle with a 3.55 final ratio (As opposed to SVT's Independent Rear Suspension) also the availability of a 4 speed automatic in addition to the Tremec sourced 5 speed manual. Factory steel "Box" cross section subframe connectors were also added to increase chassis strength for both the added handling and to deal with the prodigious torque over the stock GT. Style wise, the Mach 1 was very distinct from other Mustangs as it drew heavily from the 1970 Mach 1. In addition to the matte black spoiler and hood stripe, flat black chin spoiler, Mach 1 rocker panel stripes and Mach 1 badging on the rear, there were also faux Magnum 500 polished 17×8 alloy wheels

 

Nice kill!!
usually Mustang guys get pretty snotty after ya beat em, so its awesome to hear he was cool about it!

 

Nice. Even nicer that he's enough of a car guy in general to appreciate your ride. I've come across all types of Mustang owners. Some snooty, but a lot of the ones I was around were true car guys. My best friend's first car was a Stang (mine was a Camaro), so we had fun with that rivalry. Every time I got a different Camaro though, he wanted a ride in it haha.

It is kinda funny though with my two second gen Camaros. They expect a lot out of my 73 (still the muscle car body style) but the motor is stock and, while it wasn't quite smog crippled, it's still not as strong as the 70 and 71 Z's. The 78, on the other hand, people see that and think the slow smog era engines. They're surprised when they see it pull like it does, and even more surprised when I pop the hood and they see the full EFI L31 Vortec 350 under the hood. It's definitely not the most common swap (most who go EFI go LS), but my buddy (who owned it at the time) had a full donor truck for us to strip for the swap.

To be honest though, I don't think I've had either above 90mph. Last time I was over 100 was in my Dale Jr Monte that I used to have.

 

Thanks guys, a kill is a kill, so I will take it. it just made me smile when he told me he was thinking to himself "this ought to be easy" Thats exactly the car I like to try and take me out.

yeah I know what you mean about top speed, before this occassion I don't believe I ever had mine over a buck twenty.

 

Sounded like a good race. Good to see him being a good sport about it too.

 

Nice competition!!!

Also nice to know the guy was not a jerk. he was decent to give the thumbs up/wave and even later seeing you at a gas station, willing to talk to you with out being salty he had a surprise loss (instead very impressed with what that monster Monte of yours can do). Has to make you feel good too, you took on a Mustang that was pretty high on factory performance.

 

Nice kill!

 

sounds like my house

 

I don't condone street racing but I'm glad you made a new friend - all Mustang owners aren't a-holes

 

I condone street racing till I get caught, then I blame it on the devil...
Lucky I have not been caught.

Yes I agree, not all Mustang owners are bad peeps. My best friend has an 86 Fox body perhaps about 350 whp, we have fun busting each others chops about the cars.