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Sports Car of the Week Volume 4 - Jason McGuire’s 2006 Mustang GT
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Most “car guys” are drawn to their first car for a reason. Sometimes it is because of the long standing opinions of their family, or because of the way that a car is portrayed in a movie, or simply due to a good marketing campaign. The Ford Mustang has remained one of the best selling sports cars in America for over 40 years now and all of the reasons above likely have contributed to the Mustang’s success but for one lifelong Mustang fan, the marketing campaign of “Ford. Drive One.” describes the root of his passion.
Jason McGuire of Clinton Township, Michigan traces his interest in muscle cars back to his father, who was a fan of American automobiles and he instilled his views into his son. As young as 12 years old, Jason remembers wanting his own muscle car, although early on it was the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that inspired his auto passions rather than the Mustang. Shortly after getting his driver’s license, Jason was visiting a friend who was the proud owner of a 2.3L 4-cylinder powered Fox Body Mustang. Seeing as how Jason had just become of legal driving age, his friend offered to show him the ropes behind the wheel of a 5-speed manually shifted car, so they went out for a ride. Unfamiliar with the clutch, Jason pulled the Mustang to the end of the driveway, carefully trying to ease over the high curb when the car stalled. His friend told him not to worry about it but to try again, this time giving it a little more gas and letting the clutch out more slowly. Jason did as he was instructed though he applied too much gas and dropped the clutch, causing the tires to spin as the Mustang scooted out of the driveway. Even though the car only had 88 horsepower, it was enough to leave a path of black rubber from the driveway up onto the street. It was at that moment that Jason discovered his passion for the Ford Mustang, as driving one showed him why the car had been so popular.
Less than a year later Jason purchased his first car; a 1987 Mustang LX 5.0 that he drove through the end of high school. That Mustang was replaced by a 1993 LX that was lightly modified, and with around 280hp it was much faster than his previous car. Jason’s passion for the Mustang continued to grow once he was in a quicker car, although college expenses forced him to sell his ’93 Mustang. He went through the remainder of his college years driving cars that were more sensible and cost effective, but once he got out of college he got the itch to get into another Mustang.
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He thought that he had found his vintage pony car when he purchased a 1969 Mach 1 off of eBay, but when he got it home he was disappointed with his purchase. The body of the car was in worse shape than he originally thought, and the carbureted engine ran poorly, making the car unbearably slow. He worked with the ’65 Mustang for a little over a year when a divorce forced him to sell the vintage pony car, leaving him without a Mustang for the next few years. When the movie Gone in 60 Seconds was released, the heavily modified Shelby GT500 named Eleanor featured in the famous chase scene towards the end rekindled Jason’s interest in the Mustang - although his previous experience drove him away from the vintage models a bit. He began looking into buying another Mustang and when Ford began showing off the newly redesigned 2005 Mustang, Jason instantly knew that he wanted one.
In 2006, Jason left the dealership in a brand new black Ford Mustang GT Premium with the Shaker audio system and although he loved the car from the first drive, he knew that this car wasn’t going to stay stock for long. Jason began looking for some appearance upgrades when he came across a picture online of a Cervini Mustang, which takes many of its styling cues from the famous Eleanor GT500. Having always like the styling of the Shelby Mustangs, he knew that this was the direction in which he wanted to go, to build his own GT500. He purchased the full Cervini Mustang package, replacing the hood, the front and rear fascia, the wheels, the rear spoiler, and adding side exit exhaust to the car (shown in the pictures throughout the article). He then had Wade Miller in South Carolina add Satin Silver Metallic stripes the length of the car along the top and sides, with the GT500 logo integrated into the side striping. He then added the Cobra badges, matching them with full chrome dress-up kits for the engine bay and interior; finishing off the exterior work with a dark tinted windows and a set of sequential tail lights. The Mustang looked exactly how he wanted, but he wasn’t happy with the performance, so in 2007 he added a Whipple High Output supercharger, increasing the horsepower of the car from around 270 at the rear wheels to an impressive 465 rwhp.
The result of Jason’s passion is a gorgeous modern day muscle car that turns heads everywhere he goes. The car is like a black mirror, spotless from front to back, inside and out. The car shines so bright that it attracts attention even when it’s just sitting in a parking lot, as during our photoshoot with his car, many people stopped by to compliment and stare. These pictures were taken along Gratiot and even during the late morning hours when many people are at work, literally dozens of people stopped to look at his Mustang. Jason credits the work ethic instilled to him by his father as the main contributor to how he cares for his Mustang and that hard work and determination is clear from looking at his self designed GT500.
Jason’s interest in the Mustang brought him to join MustangForums.com, one of the leading Mustang enthusiasts’ communities online and he also belongs to the Mustang Owners Club of South Eastern Michigan (or MOCSEM for short, click here for more information). His Mustang is one of the best looking and best sounding S197 models I’ve heard, but he isn’t done yet. Lidio at Alternative Auto in Chesterfield Township is the man responsible for the awesome performance of this Mustang, and Jason hopes that an increase in engine size, along with a wide variety of other engine modifications coupled with a full suspension build will yield 600-650 wheel horsepower while keeping his Mustang street legal and street friendly.
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I will be sure to keep you all updated when Jason’s GT500 gets the next big upgrade, but for the time being his gorgeous pony car helps to show why the Ford Mustang has remained so popular for so long. The look, sound, and power of his Mustang define the American muscle car and his upgrades have allowed him to drive his ideal dream car. The level of performance and the flawless appearance of Jason’s Mustang embody everything that the Mustang should be, and that is why his 2006 GT turned GT500 is my Sports Car of the Week!
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