I've said it before; nothing...
I've said it before; nothing goes together like a black Mustang with chrome wheels. It's like Jay-Z and Beyonce, peanut butter and jelly, Tech Editor Jones and Dickies, and Tommy Lee and tattoos. The paint is factory fresh 10th Anniversary black, and the body remains stock. Jazmin wanted a sleeper.
Recently married to Brian Butt, Jazmin is a full-time student at the University of Iowa, pursuing a law degree. When she's not driving the Cobra, it shares garage space with a '99 GT convertible and an '07 Shelby GT500.
When it comes down to it, every guy dreams of having a son. He wants him to grow up big and strong so he can tell everyone how he'll be a star quarterback, basketball point guard, or race car driver. He wants to be able to take him to car shows, play catch, and educate him on the nuances of the Tampa Two defense. Every guy wants to be able utter the words, "Atta boy." At the end of the day, however, you just want the baby to be healthy, and you get what you get.
For Jazmin Newton's dad, he too wanted a son to take out to the garage, to car shows-a son to pass on his love of cars. Instead, the stork delivered four girls, but his daughter Jazmin was the lucky one he took out to the garage with him. "I grew up playing with Hot Wheels cars, not Barbies," Jazmin says. "Gasoline has always run through my veins." In this instance, "Atta girl" will work too.
Jazmin must've learned a lot during those formative years because at age 16 she started building her own Mustang-a '99 GT convertible. It took two years to finish that car, and even though it was done right, it just wasn't as fast as she liked. Giving in to peer pressure, she went over to the dark side with the purchase of a Brand-X sports car, and even though the car was fast, it wasn't the same as a Mustang. Besides, it still wasn't fast enough.
"I did what any girl would do-I bought an '03 10th Anniversary Cobra," Jazmin says. "It was love at first sight." To make the deal even sweeter, the Cobra was already modified by Jeff Stealy at Stealy Performance. Its engine was built to make lots of power since Jeff had planned on racing the car. Jazmin wanted to know just how fast the car was, so straightaway she took it to Cordova Dragway to find out. Unfortunately, she was unable to get the car to hook up to the track, and the subsequent e.t.'s were rather embarrassing.
"One guy even told me to take the car back home to Daddy," Jazmin says. "I had never been more insulted in my life."
Never wanting to hear those words again, she consulted uncle Robin Lawrence for help. Robin took the car under his wing, adding a solid axle out back, along with the appropriate suspension modifications. Once Robin was done, he put Jazmin in touch with some crazy guys out of the Chicago area known as Mark Magnuson and John Galway.
Mark and John are no strangers to '03-'04 Cobras. With the suspension part taken care of, it was up to Mark and John to add power. "Mark asked me what I wanted done to the car," Jazmin says. Of course, Jazmin being female, she wanted everything-as in everything she could get away with and the car remain street-legal.
Following Jazmin's wishes and Mark and John's ideas, the guys added a Whipple supercharger and supporting hardware, and the car's fuel system. Ben Ledbetter finished up the mods with a CompuCar wet nitrous kit.
Jazmin won't be hearing anymore smack from the male population. On her most recent trip to the dragstrip, she ran an 11.1 at 125 mph in full street trim without the nitrous. "I think it's time for a rollcage and some slicks," Jazmin says.
"I absolutely love the car, but not as much as my 5-year-old son, Eric, who tells me it's his car," Jazmin says. Making mom proud, he recently told another kid his mom's car was faster than his daddy's. Atta boy!