Dubbed ‘Machenstein,’ its got the engine of a Mach 1, the body of a V6 convertible, and interior parts of a ’90s Mustang.
Wayne Sanders is used to taking machines apart and putting them back together. He’s a photocopier technician by trade. One evening while coming back from a vacation on the Texas coast with his wife Natalie, a careless driver plowed into the back of their Ford Mustang Mach 1. Sanders knew just how he was going to put it back together, though. And with the result was “Machenstein,” the 2003 Mach 1convertible.
“Just like Frankenstein was assembled from many parts, so was Machenstein,” Sanders told me. Sanders’s one-off started life as a Zinc Yellow 2003 Mach 1. After seven years of wanting a Mach 1 of their own, he and his wife bought it in July, 2010. They had owned Mustangs previously (a 1977 Mustang II and a 1997 V6 coupe) but nothing like the reborn icon. Sanders was drawn to the New Edge model’s signature shaker hood scoop, wheels, and V8.
“It’s hard to beat an engine that fills up the engine bay,” says Sanders.
When Sanders bought the Mach 1, it had 50,000 miles on it. The four-speed automatic transmission had lived a more strenuous life. From the second Sanders drove it, it shifted roughly. It was clear that the gearbox needed to be rebuilt. He had shop in San Antonio, Texas carry out the overhaul and upgrade the tranny with a performance shift kit that delivers firm, forceful gear changes.
Mechanical issues resolved, Sanders began customizing his car. He replaced the damaged original hood stripe, added the folding body-color mirrors from a Mustang Cobra, swapped in cross-drilled and slotted brake rotors, attached honeycomb panels to the trunk lid, and installed a sequential turn signal kit. To sharpen his Mustang’s handling, Sanders bolted in a three-point brace, and added more substantial struts and shocks.
Of course, he didn’t leave out the 4.6-liter V8, which got a larger throttle body and a slightly hotter tune. Sanders never ran the enhanced engine on a dyno to measure its output, but he estimates that it makes 330 horsepower and 320 lbs-ft of torque at the crank.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
