FTK Mustang S197 Drop-Top - Made You Look

Horse Sense: The twin-turbo kit on the FTK convertible is from Turbo Horsepower (www.turbohorsepower.com) and retails for $6,495 in its base configuration. That includes two Garrett 57mm T3/T4 Hybrid Turbos, four-into-one custom headers, an air-to-air intercooler, mandrel-bent pipes, Tial billet wastegates, 60-lb/hr injectors, a DiabloSport MAFia, and a battery relocation kit. Bigger turbos, polishing, and a larger intercooler are optional.

Almost everybody who goes about customizing a Mustang loves when people appreciate their ride, but attracting attention is only part of the plan. When it comes to shop project cars, that idea is taken to the extreme. The mission is not only to create a cool car, but also outshine any car in the surrounding vicinity, display the shop's prowess, and with any luck, attract some business. We've seen plenty of these cars, so it takes a rare example of the breed to stop us in our tracks. Such was the case with the Full Throttle Kustomz (www.ftkustomz.com) S197 convertible-and we weren't alone.

When we arrived at the Super 'Stang Fest ("Sea Horses," Nov. '07, p. 134) Hooters party in Daytona Beach, Florida, this car was surrounded by onlookers. Throughout the several-day-long event, this car attracted attention at every turn. Sure, there are plenty of flashy S197s on the car show circuit. We've seen them with big wheels, billet dress-up parts, and some sort of power adder. But one look at the FTK convertible's engine compartment and we knew this car was out of the ordinary. Twin turbos, a sheetmetal intake-this was our kind of show car.

After tracking down FTK main man Ray McClelland, whose shop is known for customizing all manner of wheeled vehicles, we were dying to ask him a question-not about the doors or the color. We asked the only question that matters: "How much power does it make?" He nonchalantly answered, "It makes more than 1,200 hp, but we're still sorting out the tuning." More importantly, this thing is driven on the street. Sure, Ray and his crew trailered it from Ohio, but once they arrived in Florida, they had no problem cruising around the streets of Daytona. Some unknowing local import guy even had the moxie to rev up on this monster at a stoplight.

Little did that guy know the Turbo Horsepower twin-turbo system packs a 2,000hp capability. A stock aluminum 4.6 block probably can't go that far, but FTK had D.S.S. Racing Engines prep the stock engine as ruggedly as possible. Besides D.S.S.' well-known CNC block prep, this engine features a 5.0 stroker kit with Pro X pistons and H-beam rods. It results in a turbo-friendly 8.5:1 compression and is topped by D.S.S. CNC-ported Three-Valve heads and a Hogan sheetmetal intake. It's the kind of combination that might be under the hood of a full-on race car, not a flashy show car.

Perhaps all the more impressive is just how docile and quiet the car really is. Turbos are known to dampen a raucous exhaust, and the 311/42-inch oval mufflers and side-exit exhaust really do a job putting the sheep's clothing on this wolf.

We always tell people that if they really want to get their cars in the magazine, the cars should be really pretty, really fast, or, ideally, both. It doesn't take a genius to see that FTK's convertible fulfills all those criteria and more. It certainly made us take a close look, and that's just what Ray had in mind.