Photos by Matt Clarke and Joe Greeves
Barn finds tend to be a mixed bag, they’re either heaps of rusted metal too far gone to save, or somehow well preserved cars that need only a little TLC. Of course there is plenty of in-between.
Matt and Sheri Clarke found their ’65 Mustang in a trailer behind a Ford dealer, where it had sat dormant for 17 years. The Clarkes were able to get their hands on much of the cars original documentation, including copies of the original title, the owners manual, Ford warranty card, and more. This was a K-code Mustang, making it one of the venerable “Hi-po” cars. The Clarke’s idea of high performance though was not restoring this one back to original standards.
For two months both Matt and Sheri thrashed in their garage working 18 hour days to build the car you see before you. When we say that it was Matt and Sheri, we truly mean it was a team effor., Sheri wasn’t playing the part of loving and encouraging wife, she was out in the garage getting her hands dirty, wrenching on the car. “Sherri built the car with me as in REALLY built the car, fabrication, fitment, suspension, all of the interior” says Matt.
The fully built 408 utilizes a forged rotating assembly and Trick Flow Heads. It is fed with an Aeromotive fuel pump that’s needed to keep up with the 10 psi of boost stuffed into the Edelbrock Victor EFI intake from the twin master power turbos under the hood. It’s all good for over 770 hp at the rear tires.
The car rides on a combination of Total Control Products and Ride Tech suspension parts. A Performance Automatic C4 handles the power, while Baer brakes take care of the stopping.
The end result speaks for itself, named K-Otic, the car is a stunning restomod that could be the only of it’s kind to have a twin turbo 408 cubic-inch windsor stuffed under the hood without cutting out the stock shock towers. It has the show and go to back up it’s name.
The Clarkes take their ’65 to numerous shows and events and are planning on attending the 50th anniversary event in Charlotte, NC, that’s also when the car will be up for sale as Matt tells us it’s time to move on the next project.