Gabe Wilkins' 1996 Mustang Cobra

Mark Ray had seen good power...        read full caption Mark Ray had seen good power and durability out of a Kuntz & Co. stroker Windsor in a customer’s Vortech Mondo supercharged Lightning pickup. With that in mind, Mark commissioned Kuntz to assemble this 426ci powerhouse. The short-block is fitted with Eagle rods, JE pistons, and pumps up 8.8:1 compression. To keep the budget in line, Mark opted to stick with an old-school, flat-tappet cam in the early block. The Edelbrock cylinder heads, the Vortech intake, and the T-Trim supercharger are decidedly modern, however. Mark estimates this combo should crank out about 665 hp when it’s dialed in.

Inside Gabe’s wild ride...        read full caption Inside Gabe’s wild ride is a collection of subtle, but cool interior upgrades. Gabe is able to fit his 6’5” frame inside an SN-95 Mustang thanks to the adjustability of the Cobra Daytona Sport seats. Also practical are the Auto Meter Phantom boost, oil-pressure, fuel-pressure, and water-temperature gauges on the A-pillar and in place of the clock. The real lookers inside, however, are the red carbon-fiber trim pieces and the red Sola billet shift knob. They tie in nicely with the car’s Laser Red paint scheme, which was applied by Richie’s Body Shop in Shelby, North Carolina.

Our favorite part of Gabe’s...        read full caption Our favorite part of Gabe’s ride is the rear. Gabe picked out the entire aesthetics package himself—including the Cervini’s Auto Designs Stalker nose and rear valance, Saleen side skirts, and Classic Design Concepts’ side-scoops—but the most unique part is the Griggs Racing carbon-fiber rear wing. Mark Ray took the unique wing a step further by adding adjustable, Winston Cup–style support struts, which offer 10 degrees of variance. After all, Mark’s shop is in the heart of NASCAR country.

It was quite a sight. As I sat watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play their arch-rival Green Bay Packers in late 1997, the Bucs’ much-maligned quarterback, Trent Dilfer, opted to lob an ill-fated screen pass. The pass was intercepted by a defensive lineman. As embarrassing as it might have been for Trent to throw an interception to a 300-pound D-lineman, things got worse in a hurry. The lineman then hurdled the fallen quarterback on his way to a 77-yard touchdown run.

It’s certainly unusual to see a huge defensive player score such a dramatic touchdown. What’s perhaps more unusual is a highly paid National Football League player actually likes to play around with Mustangs. It turns out Gabe Wilkins, who garnered Defensive Player of the Week honors for that interception and subsequent 77-yard touchdown run, is a true-blue Ford guy who grew up thinking his aunt’s ’70 Mach 1 was the fastest car around.

It also seems that Gabe Gabe reads the Ford magazines, as he kept seeing the cool cars coming out of Mark Ray Motorsports, which is headquartered in Harrisburg, North Carolina.

Well, Gabe grew up in South Carolina, and he still resides in his hometown of Cowpens in the off-season. He decided to give Mark Ray a call and see what he could do with his ’96 Cobra. Mark ended up putting together a Sean Hyland Motorsport long-block and a Vortech supercharger with an SHM air-to-air intercooler. Gabe liked the results, but he wanted something a bit more aggressive, with an eye toward open-tracking. He also wanted something that would out-do the high-priced exotics owned by some of his ex-teammates who play on the offensive side of the ball.

“That’s a lot of the reason I wanted to build a car with that kind of horsepower and capability,” Gabe explains. “If I can build a car for 40,000 bucks, or somewhere in that neighborhood, and go way faster than the cars that they buy for $100,000, then why not? I’m in line to save $60,000.

“I had a lot to do with what went into the car, too,” Gabe adds. “You go buy a Porsche or a Mercedes—you don’t have too much say-so in how it looks or in customizing it. You may do a stereo and rims, but other than that it’s a Mercedes. This is a Mustang, but it’s Gabe’s Mustang. Everything on it is totally customized.”

The resulting Mustang speaks for itself. It packs 426 ci, a Vortech T-Trim, a full Griggs suspension, and much more. Yet it still sports power steering, power brakes, and air conditioning. Those were Gabe’s goals when he handed the project over to Mark Ray Motorsports. He wanted a big power package that could also be at home on the street or on a road course. He got all that, and in a vehicle you can’t drive off a dealership lot.

Sounds like the mechanical equivalent of a 77-yard touchdown run.

Horse Sense: The Vortech T-Trim supercharger on Gabe’s Mustang will spool up 1,200 cfm and 26 pounds of boost to support up to 825 hp. The T-Trim is designed for street cars with modified engines and was added to the Vortech line to provide the low-end boost of an S-Trim street blower with the top-end boost of an R-Trim race blower.