Slideshow: 1966 Mustang with a 750HP NASCAR V8

The Mighty Ol' Blue

The 1966 Mustang is a gem of a pony car with plenty of performance potential, but who would have thought that it could be driven by a 750-horsepower NASCAR V8 engine? As ludicrous as it sounds, that’s exactly what race driver and suspension systems expert Mike Maier managed to pull off.

From the outside, Mike’s ’66 Blue Mustang, nicknamed “Ol’ Blue”, looks like an average, modified 1966 Mustang that is well-trimmed and custom molded, but when you hear the roar of the engine and the ripping exhaust note, you know that this is no ordinary customized Mustang. When riding in this car, this reality becomes even more evident as the car effortlessly achieves supercar-like acceleration.

>>Join the conversation about this 750 horsepower classic Stang right here in The Mustang Source.

How It Came To Be

Mike’s customized ’66 Blue Mustang was initially just meant to be a wedding gift to his wife; that was 12 years ago. When Mike bought it from its prior owner, it was a beat-up “seafoam green” 1966 Mustang with a stock 289-cubic-inch V8 engine that paired with a 4-speed automatic transmission. Mike reconditioned it into the good-looking blue street cruiser that would drive the couple to and from the wedding. At that point, it still featured the stock engine and transmission. Over the coming years, Mike gave in to pressure from his peers to start racing the car at the local autocross events, and this led to the desire to push the car’s performance limits. After years of numerous customizations and modifications, Ol’ Blue has become what it is now – a monster of a Mustang.

>>Join the conversation about this 750 horsepower classic Stang right here in The Mustang Source.

A Labor of Love

Mike’s current full-time job is building and customizing suspension systems for like-minded Ford Mustang owners who want more than what the stock suspension components of their cars have to offer. His workshop – Mike Maier, Inc., is where he does it all. Before that, he worked at Maier Racing, which is the family business. Maier Racing also focuses on modifying 1965-70 Ford Mustangs and priming them for extreme racing competition. Ol’ Blue was an opportunity to put into practice all the mad skills that he had acquired over the years. Mike’s main passion is suspension systems, so he went all out with this old Mustang’s suspension system. Before he settled on what he wanted, he used the Ol’ Blue to test suspension parts and components that he made for other Mustangs, and this helped him to get a feel of what he wanted for the Ol’ Blue. In the front, he ended up uprooting the stock suspension and installed a trick long double-A-arm setup. At the back, Mike ended up enhancing the rear suspension with a pushrod-to-rocker-arm 3-link coil spring setup that extends into the trunk.

>>Join the conversation about this 750 horsepower classic Stang right here in The Mustang Source.

Nothing like a NASCAR Engine

For the engine, Mike was looking to push the envelope, and what better way to do so than to get a genuine race-car engine from the Roush Yates NASCAR Nationwide Series program? The engine he chose is a high-output, high-revving 357-cubic-inch V8 engine that generates 750 horsepower and 585 lb-ft of torque. This engine features a four-barrel carburetor and a five-gallon dry sump system. Mike had to make adjustments to the ’66 Mustang like designing a new shock tower and redesigning the upper and lower control mounts to enable this huge engine to fit in it.

>>Join the conversation about this 750 horsepower classic Stang right here in The Mustang Source.

Transmission

For the transmission, Mike didn’t want to take any chances. He got a C&R Racing CR1V2 four-speed manual transmission that is tuned to deliver super-fast gear shifts. C&R Racing is among the top players in the US high-performance aftermarket industry. For over 25 years, they have provided all sorts of top-quality aftermarket auto parts for F1, Indy Car, World Rally, NASCAR, and Daytona 500 race cars. The C&R Racing CR1V2 has been successfully used on many NASCAR race cars, so Mike knew that it would be a sure bet for his 750-hp Mustang.

>>Join the conversation about this 750 horsepower classic Stang right here in The Mustang Source.

Confident Stopping Power

To keep all the power of the NASCAR engine at bay and to achieve confident stopping power when racing, Mike had to get strong brakes. He looked to Wilwood Engineering to provide the brakes that would be strong enough for Ol’ Blue. The package included six-piston front calipers and 4-piston rear calipers.

Mike has won the SCCA National Autocross Championship a record eight times with Ol’ Blue, and he has also competed in many other racing competitions. Mike’s Ol’ Blue is always a top contender in the races in which it participates thanks to its immense power and thrilling driving dynamics.

For more information about the Mike Maier’s NASCAR-V8-powered ’66 Mustang, click here.  

>>Join the conversation about this 750 horsepower classic Stang right here in The Mustang Source.

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