With A Barbie Bike Paint Scheme And A Driver They Call "Fluffy," This Car Better Kick Asphalt
writer: Dr. Jamie Meyer
photographer: Dr. Jamie Meyer
Mad Max Gross sprayed a combination of PPG Orange, Probe Yellow, Barbie Bike Pink, and Purple on the flanks of Ed "Fluffy" Imhoff's '89 notchback. Airbrush work is by Gary Anderson.
We first introduced you to Ed "Fluffy" Imhoff in our June '99 issue. At the time, Ed had transformed his wife's daily driven '86 notchback into a serious small-tire Mustang capable of 8.80s at close to 160 mph with the help of a 347 small-block Ford, a Vortech J-Trim, a batch-fire DFI fuel-injection system, a stock suspension, and 28x10.5-inch tires. Those were pretty good times for a turn-of-the-millennium Outlaw Mustang, but by '05 standards, that's a mid-pack Renegade car. But, like everything else, Fluffy has evolved with the sport, and his latest creation is the vibrant '89 coupe you see before you. Along the way, he's become a regular in the NMRA Super Street Outlaw class and a four-time champion at his local MOM's Racing heads-up Mustang shootout.
Now about the '86 notchback that garnered Fluffy so much attention-after a few upstate New York winters, complete with salty slush-covered roads and sub-zero temperatures, the structure of the '86 was in question. Once Fluffy subjected the car to several hundred dragstrip passes, the aging Pony really started to look a little rough. The notch had survived a couple of brushes with the wall, a number of 300-foot-long wheelstands (and landings), and the constant pounding of a 1,000-plus-hp motor. It was said the interior was so bad that the only thing Fluffy could do to make it look better was to have the windows tinted.
In Fluffy's quest for a 7-second pass, perhaps only the smallish ProCharger D-3R held him up. It's ironic to refer to something as small even though it is the clear motivating force behind the estimated 1,500 hp 400-cubic-inch small-block Ford that you now feast your eyes upon. |  | 
The driver is greeted by a custom in-dash array of Auto Meter gauges and a 5-inch Auto Meter tachometer. Kirkey seats , a B&M shifter, a Jeg's Line-Loc, and a full brace of safety harnesses and netting give the driver control over the 3,220-pound missile. |
Fluffy has always been one of the most talented do-it-yourselfers in the hot-rod Mustang world. He's known for making things work (such as tractor tires for front runners) that may not be the best, but they are what he has at hand. And, as the abuse began to add up on the '86 notch, even Fluffy had to admit it was time to send it out to greener pastures.