1965 Ford Mustang Fastback

This 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback, purchased at a Barrett-Jackson auction, came to Crown already built: a stroked 427 Windsor-based V8 and a pair of turbochargers were already in the engine bay. On paper that sounds like exactly what a fast Mustang should have. In practice, its owner found it more car than he actually wanted to drive, and asked Crown to make it genuinely driveable without losing the turbocharged character that made it interesting in the first place.

Getting there took a real back-and-forth over what should replace the 427. A modern EcoBoost V6 was considered, then a Coyote crate engine, before landing on the option that kept the most of what was already good about the car: a new twin-turbocharged small block, built at 347 cubic inches specifically to run the same turbochargers already on hand. Arrington Performance built the engine and put it on the dyno before it ever reached Crown’s shop, with results that confirmed the combination was sound.

Everything downstream of that decision got reworked to match. The front suspension was swapped for a Detroit Speed setup, which required deleting the factory shock towers to fit. New fuel, oil, and transmission cooler lines were built in-house, along with a custom driveshaft, intercooler piping, and a power steering system built specifically for the new combination. A custom shifter was fabricated for the console, and the brake booster and master cylinder were refitted to match the new engine bay layout.

Inside, its owner asked for a cohesive black theme: a black steering column and wheel, a black center console with two cup holders, and seats reupholstered in black vinyl with breathable synthetic suede centers. A battery kill switch was added, and the factory stereo gave way to a Bluetooth audio module rather than a traditional head unit. Air conditioning was deliberately left out, a choice its owner made on purpose, in his words, for one more reason the car would have to be quick.