Over the summer, Larry Weiner of Performance West Group/GHF, the man behind the creation of today’s Hurst-branded vehicles offered a sneak peak at his first co-branded creation at the exclusive Television Motion Picture Car Club car show at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California. Not only did the car’s striking looks catch our attention, but the performance it offered also inspired us to dig a little deeper.

It is the second brand in this Mustang’s moniker that delivers that 750 horsepower performance via its 3.2-liter, twin-screw supercharger. The Hurst-Kenne Bell R-code Mustang is a unique powerhouse that will only be built for 50 enthusiasts to enjoy.

“I couldn’t think of anybody I would rather work on a high-end Mustang with than Kenne Bell. He (Jim Bell) is one of the few that goes to the effort to do a 50-state, street-legal supercharger with an EO that’s good in any state or Canada,” Larry said. “In our line of work, we answer to a higher authority. Everything has to be 50-state street-legal. We don’t disengage bumper protection or emissions. Everything has to stand. We are very careful about the parts suppliers and vendors that we work with. They’ve got to meet a very high standard.”

While he relies on select outside vendors and suppliers to create these custom Mustangs, Larry naturally opts for parts from Hurst Shifters whenever possible.

“We obviously infuse the vehicle with as many Hurst products as we can to legitimize the use of the branding,” he said. “It’s not just, ‘Hey it’s got a Hurst shifter, so it’s a Hurst Mustang.’ No. That’s a Mustang with a Hurst shifter. This is so much more.”

In fact, even though many of these parts are available through Hurst and the other suppliers, quite a few of them are designed just for these vehicles and that’s the only way they are available for purchase.

“Many of the parts we develop for these package programs you can’t buy. We won’t sell them. ‘Well, I want a Hurst fender emblem like that.’ Nope. Can’t buy it. You gotta buy a car. ‘I want one of those serial number dash plaques. That’s pretty cool.’ Nope. Can’t buy it. You gotta buy a car. ‘Sill plate emblem?’ No. You want a sill plate emblem, you’ve gotta buy a car,” Larry explained. “That’s how proprietary it is to the car and it gives the buyer of the car (the feeling) that ‘I’ve got all this stuff you can’t even buy for love nor money…”

Building limited-production vehicles with the Hurst name is a lot of responsibility, but it does allow Larry to really put a lot of effort into making these cars unique. You won’t see yourself coming down the road if you are driving one of these cars.

“That’s how I look at the Hurst Mustang program. It’s not about building 100 or 1,000 or 10,000. It’s about building a limited number. There’s a sense of exclusivity a person gets when they really know that they got something special.” Larry said. “…We’ve just got to appeal to 50 people. Those people are far more tolerant of the price point. An average price point on a GT Premium Mustang, you are looking at $36,000 to $37,000. This package here is $31,995 MSRP, including the supercharger and everything. If you look at this package as a cost-benefit-ratio value, it is a lot of car for $31,995. It really is.”

He isn’t kidding, as a lot of effort goes into customizing these vehicles, and Larry allows ample time for his build team to do the labor-intensive tasks like the supercharger upgrade and interior alterations. He doesn’t want to rush things and have quality suffer. He also goes to great lengths to ensure quality, including going the extra mile when necessary.

“Everything we do on the exterior is all paint. There is no vinyl. Even the Hurst emblem on the fender is all hand-painted…” Larry Weiner said. “There’s a lot of workmanship that goes into building one of these. I allow a full week to do the whole interior because I know how much work is involved. This is way more than just pulling on a couple of leather seat covers.”

To ensure all that hard work is easy to verify and difficult to copy, Larry went to great lengths to ensure the cars are properly numbered and easy to research in the registry he administers.

“Every dash plaque I do for every program has two numbers on it, not just one. One is the VIN of the vehicle assigned by Ford Motor Company,” he said. “The other one, in this case, is the Hurst-Kenne Bell R-code VIN, which is alphanumeric. You cannot fraud one of those dash plaques. It can’t be done. Why? Because that VIN is married to that car by Federal law.”

So it will be easy to verify you have a real Hurst-Kenne Bell Mustang even if you don’t configure it like this one. Larry is open to customizing the colors and options to a customers liking, so you could change the color combination and add some unique features and have an even rarer member of this elite group. Either way, the Hurst-Kenne Bell R-code is modern tip of the had to Ford and Hurst’s performance legacies.

“The response we’ve gotten tells me that I think we got this right. This is something demonstrably different. It has a unique personality,” Larry enthused. “If you want a Mustang that’s got a lot of horsepower and a lot of potential, but you want it to look like something special, this is a very interesting car.”

• 
• 

In addition to running the registry for all the Hurst vehicles, Larry goes to great lengths to ensure that these cars remain special. All 50 Hurst Kenne Bell R-code Mustang wear these VIN badges on the dash and shock tower. Each are encoded with the Ford VIN and the unique Hurst registry number. In front this Mustang is upgraded with unique grilles, a front splitter, a dual-snorkel hood. All Hurst Kenne Bell Mustangs are fitted with Hurst Stunner wheels wrapped in Nitto tires. The standard wheels are machined with anthracite accent but optional are machined with black accents or chrome. You can also opt for custom painted accents as shown here. (Photo Credit: Larry Weiner)