"Second Chances"

     Brian Schenk's '91 LX

    One unfortunate thing about the car hobby is that accidents do happen. This is the reason why most owners feel more at ease with their car tucked away in the garage. Putting your car on the road can be extremely stressful, when you have spent hundreds of hours building your dream ride. How infuriating is it when some idiot who isn't paying attention ruins all of your hard work? We go to great lengths to keep our cars safe, even parking as far from the door as possible when going to the store, just to avoid door dings. It never fails however, some tool in a Camry decides to park right next to you. I honestly believe people do it on purpose just to drive us crazy. Many guys leave the hobby all together after an accident. The thought of starting all over is just too much. Spending countless hours and dollars on your ride can all be for not, in a matter of seconds.   

    Brian Schenk knows this struggle all too well. Back in 2008 his '89 was totaled in an accident. He had already put a considerable amount of work into the car and starting over did not sound like much fun. You hit a wall at times like those, and wonder what direction to go next. Brian however is not one to quit, and the wheels in his head began to turn about his next build. 

    Shortly after the crash, Brian began the hunt for another fox body Mustang. Ideas swarming in his head, he wanted to come back bigger and badder than ever. In '09 he came across the '91 you see here. The car was in really bad shape, and would require a ton of work to bring it back to life. The car was a roller, but it already had a cage installed which was a big plus. The paint was toast, and only about half of the interior remained; Bryan didn't care.  With his wrecked '89 for parts, the build began, and took nearly seven years to get to this point. Bryan took his time, and built the car right, no cutting corners to get it done. 

    The paint and body work took the longest. Stripping away all of the old faded paint, and straightening the body was a long process. Once done, a Cervinis body kit, Cobra grill insert, and Mach 1 hood found their way onto the notch. Brian then laid down several coats of Ford Kona Blue, with black accents on the hood. Next up were a set of ultra clear headlights, and S197 5.0 badges finish off the body. For wheels, a set of chrome FR500s were wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber, which work perfectly with the clean coupe lines. 

    In the go department, Brian knew nothing but a turbo would do. That sweet sound of a quick spool was music to his ears. A call was placed to Ford Racing for a GT40X crate engine, and the powertrain began to come together. Next on the list was a complete turbo kit from On3 Performance, with a 70mm head unit. Not one to rush, Brian made sure everything was either polished or powder coated before taking up residence under the hood. Once done, she was off to the dyno for some tuning. After some tweaking, the turbo small block laid down 455 RWHP and 531 RWTQ on low boost. 

    Inside Brian kept things fairly sedate. He had the stock seats reupholstered in black tweed, and installed a custom built polycarbonate gauge cluster. Aside from that, everything is vintage fox body Mustang, why mess with success?

    The finished product of seven years worth of work is truly stunning. The Kona Blue pops in the sun, and the 70mm turbo under boost is pure evil. Some people never try again after losing their car to an accident or theft, but Brian Schenk believes in second chances. CR