Imagine Ford, buoyed by the Le Mans success of the GT40 beginning in 1966, decided to take on Ferrari in the showroom in addition to the track. How would a fastback ’69 Mustang look if it morphed to the proportions of the world-beating, mid-engine GT40? Retired engineer Terry Lipscomb wanted to find out. He enlisted Mike Miernik (MiernikDesign.com) to envision how such a car might have looked. After they tried various vent, intake, and quarter-window shapes, Mike and Terry honed in on a GT40-inspired design they felt evoked the original essence of the Mach 1 Mustang. Terry then turned to Eckert’s Rod & Custom (EckertsRodandCustom.com) and Hardison Metal Shaping (HardisonMetalShaping.com) in Molalla, Oregon, to make the two-dimensional renderings into a running, driving reality over the course of three years, starting with a real ’69 Mustang SportsRoof.
The Mach 40 is a ’69 Mustang reworked as a mid-engined tribute to Ford’s GT40 race car by Eckert’s Rod & Custom in Molalla, Oregon. There’s not much stock ’69 Mustang bodywork left—most of the car was fabricated from scratch, including the Schott billet aluminum wheels that almost completely conceal the 14-inch Baer rotors. The wheels were custom machined as per Mike Miernik’s design. The fronts measure 18×8.5 and use 275/35ZR18 Michelins, while the rears are 19×12 and wear 325/30ZR19 rubber. None of the tires contact the body at any point.
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