1988 Ford Mustang GT - Match Racing

Philip Rivers Met His Match-And His Wife-At A Stoplight Race"It all started in June 1990 when I pulled up beside a blue '88 Mustang GT in my Monte Carlo (yeah, a Chevy)," says Philip Rivers of Gaston, South Carolina. "When the light turned green, I got smoked." Wanting a rematch, Philip motioned the car over only to find a girl behind the wheel. That girl, Sheila, is now his wife. "That's how we met," says Philip. "Twelve years and eight Mustangs later, here we are."

Philip purchased the former trooper car featured here-minus the engine and tranny-from a friend for $300, figuring it would make an excellent race car. Several factors-including inexpensive entry costs and getting caught in an alleged street race by the local police-convinced Philip to begin racing legally. "I sold my highly modified '89 GT convertible and started building this car," he says.

Philip and Sheila initially added a budget 347 stroker using a stock block, a cast crank, and I-beam rods. Repeated trips down the strip with the aid of an unhealthy dose of juice sealed the 347's fate. Once the decision was made to go the Windsor route, the only reusable components turned out to be the box-stock Canfield heads. "We built the Windsor mainly for reliability," Philip says. And reliable is exactly what it has been. While at the spring '02 Holcomb Civil Wars, with just 5 minutes running time, Sheila clicked off a 5.81 in the eighth-mile, making it through three rounds before redlighting. Since then, the plugs have been changed only twice. "Even then it didn't need it," Philip says.

Of course, having a dyno at their disposal definitely helps keep the Windsor in tune. "It's so easy to be able to go to the track and race," Philip says, "and not work on or tune the car." At the end of 2002, he and Sheila began racing in NMRA's Open Comp class. "It's the only class the car is legal for," Philip says. "Besides, Sheila has become deadly on a 0.500 pro-tree-always 0.500-something."