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P-51A
During World War II, the P-51 Mustang was hailed as a savior of aviation
and certainly played a major part in ending the conflict. This long range
fighter escorted Allied bombers over Europe and Hermann Goering, the head
of Germany's Luftwaffe, summarized the plane's role by stating, "The day I
saw P-51 Mustangs flying over Berlin, I knew the jig was up."
Today, at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the jig is up for the rest of the
Ford Mustang tuners as ROUSH Performance unveiled the P-51A Mustang
automobile which, at 510 horsepower and 510 lb.-ft. of torque, is sure to
be held in as high a regard as the airplane has been in the history books
and will help to save the streets from the invasion of the foreign brands.
"I've often said that there was never a Mustang built that I didn't like
and that includes both the car and the airplane," said Jack Roush, an
aviation enthusiast who currently owns two P-51 Mustang warbirds. "This is
the type of product that ROUSH has wanted to produce for at least 10 years
but the right platform, the right technology, and the right timing never
intersected until now."
The ROUSH P-51A is easily the highest horsepower Mustang that the company
has ever produced, and represents the first time that internal engine
components have been upgraded by ROUSH technicians in their Livonia,
Mich., facility. It was determined that the only way to give the P-51A
moniker its due was to completely break into the 4.6L, 3V and rebuild
several of the functional internal components, which include a forged
steel eight-bolt crankshaft, forged aluminum pistons with increased dish
to lower the compression from 9:8 to 8:6, and forged steel H-Beam
connecting rods. These upgraded parts were necessary for the stock Ford
engine (which comes with 300 horsepower from the factory) to be able to
withstand the additional power generated from the newest iteration of the
legendary ROUSHcharger* supercharger system.
Additional alterations include a custom aluminum upper and lower intake
manifold for the high capacity air-to-water intercooler and ROUSHcharger*.
ROUSH installs a custom fuel rail and high-flow fuel injectors, a
high-flow capacity fuel system, as well as a dual electronic throttle
body.
The new ROUSH P-51A engine has a preliminary rating of at least 510
horsepower and 510 lb.-ft. torque. It is anticipated that final figures
may even be slightly higher than this when final testing and calibration
is approved by the ROUSH engineering staff.
The changes to the ROUSH P-51A don't end under the hood. A ROUSH aerobody
kit will be installed, which includes a front fascia, chin spoiler, hood
scoop and rear spoiler. The ROUSH black high-flow grill is added along
with cooling side shields to give the car the aggressive look it needs
while stalking the streets.
Internally the car will come with ROUSH sport leather seating and custom
floor mats, both with an embroidered P-51A emblem. The white face gauges
and billet aluminum pedals will get a lot of use as the driver bangs
through the gears with the ROUSH short throw shift lever and retro black
ball.
For those who look behind the 18-inch ROUSH forged five-spoke wheels will
see the vaunted Stage 3 suspension underneath this vehicle. Designed to
handle even the tightest twists and turns, this suspension includes
specially-engineered and tuned front struts, rear shocks, front and rear
springs, front and rear sway bars and jounce bumpers. The front brakes are
also upgraded with 14-inch front two-piece rotors and four-piston
calipers. Each component was specifically engineered so that ride comfort
was not compromised at the expense of the tremendous gains in performance.
As an interesting side note, the yellow and red accent colors on the
vehicle come from those used by the 357th Fighters Group, Eighth Air Force
ETO (European Theater Operations) who were unofficially known as "The
Yoxford Boys" after a village near their base. Its victory totals in
air-to-air combat are the most of any P-51 group in the Eighth Air Force
and third among all groups fighting in Europe. The 357th flew 313 combat
missions between February 11, 1944 and April 25, 1945 and is officially
credited by the US Air Force with having destroyed 595.5 German airplanes
in the air and 106.5 on the ground. Pilots in this group included Captain
Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson who flew a P-51 named "Old Crow." One of
Roush's personal P-51 fighters is painted as a replica of this airplane.
Pricing for the ROUSH P-51A Mustang has not been set, but will be
announced shortly. The vehicle is slated to begin production in the first
quarter of 2008 and will be limited to 100 vehicles. As with all ROUSH
vehicles, the P-51A will carry an industry-leading 3 year/36,000 mile
warranty.
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