Ken Block’s Daughter Learns Art of Drifting in Throwback Fox Body
Vanilla Ice-inspired Fox Body Mustang hits the track with Vaughn Gittin Jr. doling out drifting lessions.
We always imagine that having Ken Block as a father would be pretty awesome. After all, the pro racer and head Hoonigan is always cooking up something cool for his 14-year-old daughter. A few months back, Block attempted to teach her how to drift in his sweet rally car, but quickly realized that a more reasonable, mild, and retro-themed Fox Body Mustang might be a better approach. He revealed the Vanilla Ice-inspired ride to his daughter recently, but now it’s time to put that build to good use.
This time, however, Block decided to let his friend, fellow Ford fan, and Formula Drift champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. have the honors of playing teacher. After all, as Block points out, sometimes you have to step aside and let someone else do it. “Teaching your own child can sometimes not be the best thing in the world,” Block admits. “She just doesn’t listen to me very well. I don’t think there’s another person more qualified to instruct someone how to drift.”
But even Gittin Jr., with all of his accomplishments, admits that he stole some of the lessons from his fellow Ford Performance drifter, Chelsea DeNofa. Gittin Jr. kicks off the day’s teachings behind the wheel himself, demonstrating techniques like weight transfer and clutch kick, as well as properly controlling both the hand and foot brakes to slide the car around perfectly.
Once behind the wheel, Block’s daughter starts out slow, making wide turns around the cones. Little by little, Gittin Jr. has her progressively go faster. But unfortunately, just when things are getting good, one of the Fox Body Mustang’s wheels breaks and ends this session prematurely. Thankfully, there’s someone nearby with a spare, so the lesson continues with figure eight practice.
At the end of the day, Block and Gittin Jr. come away seriously impressed with how fast the youngster picks up on these lessons. “She’s gotten so good at weight transferring and clutch kicking and just initiating drift that every time she comes this way, she’s doing the exact same thing,” Gittin Jr. said. “The consistency is unbelievable to me for a 14-year-old that’s never done this.
Perhaps you could say that the younger Block is a natural, which isn’t a huge surprise given who her father is. Maybe things like driving skills can be genetic, after all.
Join the Mustang Source Forums now!
