S197 Mustang Owner Spends $75K to Make 631 Wheel Horsepower
Wild S197 Mustang proves that selling it might cause a serious pain in the wallet, especially when it costs more than a 2020 GT500 to mod it.
These days, you won’t find many better performance values than the S550 Mustang. Pick up a 2018-2019 with the 3rd gen Coyote, slap on a power adder or just add E85 and a tune, and you’ll be enjoying massive power gains in no time. But it wasn’t always this way, of course. It wasn’t terribly long ago that Mustang fans were working hard to squeeze mega power out of Ford’s 4.6-liter 3-valve V8, present in the S197-gen GT.
Building a high horsepower S197 can be done, but it ain’t cheap. Regardless, this 2005 GT up for sale at Kijiji takes things to a whole new level. The seller reportedly sunk a cool $75k in the car, only to reach 631 horsepower on the dyno. For that kind of dough, you could build one heck of an S550. Or just head to a dealership that won’t kill you with markups and buy a 2020 Shelby GT500. Either way, you’ll be getting a much better deal.
Perhaps the owner just loved the S197 so much they wanted to build the ultimate example. Or, more likely, they just fell into that nasty trap of continually throwing money at it over the course of several years. Thus, we can’t really pick on him too badly. After all, you know that old proverb about throwing stones in a glass house? Yeah, we’ve been there, too.
Regardless, the seller is cutting his losses here (and his investment) with a $33k asking price. For that kind of dough, you’re getting one heck of a nice S197. The old 3-valve has been professionally built and punched out to (ironically) displace 5.0-liters. A 3.2-liter Mammoth supercharger sits up top, while a T56 Magnum 6-speed handles the shifts. And this isn’t just a drag build, either. The Mustang also has a pretty impressive track-focused suspension and even a Ford big brake kit.
Clearly, the seller of this awesome S197 is going to lose his shirt on the deal. But on the flip side, the new owner is getting quite a bit of value for their dollar. And if nothing else, let this serve as a warning. Modding a Mustang sure is fun, but you’ll never get that money back when you sell the car!
Photos: Kijiji
Join the Mustang Source Forums now!
