Horse Sense: Do you want to build a 200-plus-mph, 10.5W-tired, freak machine similar to Brad's? If so, you better save your pennies. Brad estimates he invested more than $150,000 in his record-setting Mustang. And that's with the vast majority of the work being done at his Atlanta Chassis Shop [(770) 623-9789].
It comes off the line as if shot by a cannon. Within one second of the launch, the small-block Ford sees the full boost of 26 psi from the 101mm Precision turbo. As an estimated 2,150 hp pushes the 3,100-pound coupe to full song, the 33x10.5W tires squeal for traction. All the while, the gear changes fall like a light switch at 8,200 rpm. If all goes right, Brad Brand's evil little black notchback has just run a 7.10 at more than 206 mph. If you're lined up next to him, you might as well say your prayers.
Amazing as it seems, in this world of tube-chassis, body-in-white, ground-up efforts, this sleek-looking coupe is based on a car that once prowled the streets of America looking for late-night action. Brad bought the '92 trunk-model Mustang with only 15,000 miles on it. Using his Atlanta Chassis Shop as home base, he quickly transformed the black-on-black Mustang into a straight-line weapon. While it still had the stock suspension and a weekly 150 miles of work was being logged on the odometer, the car also already had a 408-inch Windsor with a Vortech T-Trim supercharger throbbing under the hood.
Brad, owner and operator of...
Brad, owner and operator of Atlanta Chassis Shop, has himself one of the baddest 10.5W-tired Outlaw freaks in the country. Best times have been 7.148 seconds at 206.51 mph in the quarter, with a 1.148 60-second blast. This was the first 10.5W car to bust the 200-mph barrier, and if Brad has anything to do with it, this Mustang will be the first to go 6.90s on the small tire as well.
In 1999, the first time the car had been to a track, Brad ripped off a string of 9.70s. At the '00 FFW Spring Break Shootout, the now-ProCharger blown notch ran as quick as 8.60, and Brad continued to refine his combination. With the rise of the NMRA, and the monstrous fields of Super Street Outlaw cars coming out to play, he decided to step up. A more serious (and class-legal-displacement) 358-incher was assembled, and a Vortech Z-Trim topped it off. At the '01 Maple Grove NMRA event, and still on the stock suspension, Brad's street car was good for the third qualifying position when it ran an 8.31 at 173 mph.
With that kind of performance,Brad began looking at the Limited Street (non-W) Outlaw racing that was becoming so popular in his home state of Georgia. The problem he ran into was that the superchargers were so aggressive that they would just blow the tires off the car and hand the win over to the competition. Brad knew it was time for a change, but to what?
Of the transition to a turbocharger, Brad says, "I didn't know jack about the turbo. But I saw Job [Spetter, Jr.] and Joe [DaSilva] running big mph. I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew I wanted a turbo."
With that attitude, Brad consulted Harry Hruska at Precision Turbo (the only supplier of turbocharger that he's worked with, Brad points out). Brad bought a turbo, flanges, and some tubing, and then went to work designing his own system. A week later, it was on the car. And, with that same 358-inch motor, Brad picked up 300 hp with less boost. On-track performance also increased dramatically. With the supercharger, he had gone 136 mph in the eighth. With the turbocharger, he went 142 mph on his first trip to the track. Not only was the car flying, but Brad was also learning a great deal about the intricacies of the turbocharger and how to make it fly. "If you can get that thing staged," he says, "it will run. I mean, it will run like nothing else!"
Brad also quickly learned that he needed a back-half job. Sure, it would make the car illegal for NMRA, but this was quickly becoming a serious race car. In fact, with the automatic still in the car, Brad set the world record in the eighth with a 4.70 on February 17, 2002. That record stood for more than a year, until it was broken by Dan Millen. Meanwhile, FFW had changed its Street Outlaw rules to mimic the Super Street rules run by PRO and NMCA. Suddenly, Brad had found a home. He went a 7.42 at the season opener in 2002. And, he eventually topped out that same 358/automatic combination with a 7.37/193 effort.
Updating to the five-speed (bought used from Jimmy Keen) and a fresh, 392-inch bullet, Brad has set the world on fire. "I've always wanted a manual," he says. "They're fun to drive, and that pistol grip is as cool as it gets!"