Saturday of any Mustang Week is always a bittersweet day. While the annual Cruise It always brings out some of the coolest Mustangs in the country for us to put in front of our cameras, but it marks the end to another week-long journey involving cool cars and good friends, many of which are only reunited once a year at the beach. It also signals the start of those familiar, 365-day countdowns that constantly remind us of the lifetime between now and next year’s event.
Rather than let it get us down, we took on the glass-half-full prospective and went out in search of the coolest Mustangs on the property. While picking just five would be impossible, we did settle on our top five personal favorites, but for more highlights of the final day of the 2018 show, check out the full gallery below.
5. Fast & Furious Saleen
Number five on our list first caught our eye for its incredible paint job. Even from 75 yards away, this car just screams look at me. The custom Lizstick Red is quite possibly one of the prettiest shades of red to ever be sprayed on a car. Originally Speedlab Yellow, this car was repainted for the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious. This was one of three cars used in the filming. With the seemingly timless popularity of the Fast and Furious franchise, this car is sure to be a real collectible and a hit at shows for years to come.
This car is not only a movie star, it was also and R&D test mule for Saleen in 2001 during the production of the 2002 Saleen Extreme. It also served time as a press vehicle for Saleen after retiring from R&D duties.
4. Black & Chrome New Edge Roush
Since 2005 and the introduction of the S197 Mustang platform, it seems that the ROUSH cars have become widely popular tuner Mustangs. Often overlooked in all of this are the earlier ROUSH cars like this beautiful New Edge example. Kelly Curl’s 2003 ROUSH Mustang features perfect black paint and perfect chrome on the signature Roush wheels demand that this car be respected and noticed.
Jack Roush and company really did a nice job upgrading these cars. Custom gauges, ROUSH chrome wheels, and NASCAR-inspired side exit exhaust are just a few of the cool modifications these cars went through at ROUSH before going to the dealers.
3.Clean Fox Convertible
Ten years ago at Mustang Week it took an ’03-’04 Cobra swap to get your Fox Mustang noticed. Five years ago it was a Coyote swap. Now, in 2018, its not so much what engine you choose, but the overall package and execution of the swap. Joshua Gemmell’s 1986 convertible is one of the cleanest swapped Foxes we have saw in a while. Its exterior is nothing flashy, just a larger front air dam, Cobra-style rear wing, and some basic Bullett-style wheels. Under the hood a simple Two-Valve 4.6- liter — no boost, nothing fancy, just a nice clean install. The inside has also been converted to a New Edge dash and steering wheel, making for a clean and modern interior. Simple, clean and well-executed, this one is a winner in our books.
One complaint we often here about the early four-eye Fox Mustangs is the interior's quality compared to the later aero-nose cars. Well no worries here, however, Between the New Edge dash and airbag steering wheel and the great-looking Corbeau seats, this is one awesome looking — and we would assume — driver-friendly interior setup.
2. ProCharged 2018 GT
Danny Taylor has owned his share of wicked Mustangs before, including several wicked Terminator Cobras, but his latest creation, this ProCharged Crimson Metallic 2018 Mustang GT may take the prize as the coolest one yet. An already beautiful car from the factory, it wears a set of gold Avant Garde wheels, which supplanted the factory Performance Pack wheels, which really contrast nicely with the paint. Under the hood, the already potent Gen 3 Coyote wears a ProCharger D-1X tuned by Rick Erdman at Amazon Tuning Solutions. The car was finished just in time for Mustang Week and, as of this writing, is running a safe tune. Once the power is turned up, however, Danny tells us he expects the car to make somewhere close to 700 horsepower at the tires.
Danny Taylor definitely takes all aspects of a build into consideration when planning out his cars. From the massive blower under the hood to a color-matched sound system in the trunk, no corner is left untouched in this car.
1. ‘Attention’-Grabbing Terminator
Taylor Baker’s sinister, black Terminator Cobra does not ask, it does not beg, it demands your attention and certainly gets it. Possibly most infamous for its wicked burnout at the Suck, Bang, Blow bar during Mustang Week 2017’s Retro Meet (see video below), this is one nasty and talked about Cobra.
While it is right at home sitting in the Mustang Week show field, this car is definitely more about the go end of the spectrum. Attached to the stock Cobra bottom end is a set of twin 64 millimeter Precision Turbos along with as set of custom cams among other goodies. A built T56 and Ford 9-inch rearend back up this DOHC 4.6-liter monster. Taylor estimates the car puts down somewhere around 1,100 rear wheel horsepower, but was not as quick to divulge an actual quarter-mile time. However, we would feel pretty safe betting this black beauty has to be capable of something in the low nines or maybe quicker. We guess you will just have to find him at a track near you and find out for yourself.
Look at all that rubber. Yeah, that 1,000-plus-horsepower monster on the right is responsible for all of that. For more on this wicked Cobra, be sure and follow Taylor on instagram @svt_baker.
