Goes like a BULLITT: How James Martin rebuilt Steve McQueen's iconic Mustang
When he bought a 1967 Mustang GTA Fastback on eBay, James Martin thought it would be fun to ship it back to Britain and rebuild it himself. Two years, hundreds of phone calls and £100K later, he's finally recreated Steve McQueen's iconic American muscle car, but with more oomph and the kind of perfectionism that could have made Mustangs the best-made cars on the planet...
'My first drive in it was one of the best experiences of my life,' says James Martin of the 1967 Mustang GTA Fastback he bought on eBay for £20,000
Fashion isn't my thing, but I do know this: if you really, really care about clothes, you go bespoke. It costs more, but you end up with something unique.
And actually, it's the same with cars. Take this Sixties Ford Mustang GTA Fastback - petrolheads will recognise it as the car Steve McQueen hammered round San Francisco in Bullitt. Right?
Wrong. It's my Sixties Fastback, completely unlike any other Mustang ever built - in fact, the only original part is the roof panel. And the story of how and why it came to be this way is more interesting than what I'd planned to write, two whole years ago.
Back then, I just thought I'd test-drive a classic Mustang. Instead, I've wound up rebuilding the entire car to my own specifications, proving along the way that Britain still has the best bespoke car makers in the world.
Remember when my 1948 Maserati died a few miles into the Mille Miglia race last spring, shattering a lifelong dream? I bought this Mustang at around that time, on eBay in America for about $40,000 -20,000 back then.
'I've wound up rebuilding the entire car to my own specifications, proving along the way that Britain still has the best bespoke car makes in the world,' says James of the 1967 Mustang GTA Fastback
You can pick up Mustangs for a quarter of that, but the '67 Fastback is one of the most desirable. It had two previous owners, down in humid Florida (which should have rung alarm bells), and shipping it over here took three months, £1,500 and a lot of phone calls. When it got here, it was falling apart. Thanks, internet.
The first job was to strip it down and work out what needed fixing - a task I handed to Carmichael Sport Cars in Southampton. Two months later, the boss Quentin called me in to see, basically, a huge pile of rust on the floor. He asked if I wanted to restore it back to the way it looked in 1967. I thought so, but he pointed out that '67 Mustangs had massive gaps in the panel fit, often concealed with lead filler - and this type had a grille that collected rainwater like a tin bath, so I was asking for trouble.
Steve McQueen driving his Ford Mustang in Bullitt
We had to start somewhere, though, so I ordered new panels in from an American classic-parts firm (there are loads), and months later they were fitted to the frame - except they didn't fit. I reordered them - same problem. Three boots, five doors, three bonnets and God knows how many other panels later - each costing twice as much to air-freight as it did to buy - I had to admit that a proper, original Mustang is a badly designed piece of rubbish. So now what?
We sat down, worked out exactly what I wanted the car to do (go fast, corner well, brake well and be comfy), and began to build it from the ground up, this time using British components. Best decision I ever made.
First came the bonnet scoop, hand-made by Vintage Cars out of metal, not fibreglass as is the norm. It took 70 hours to make, but was perfect. Then there was the engine: out went the '289' V8 (289 cubic inches, or 4.7 litres), to be replaced with a more powerful 5.4 'stroker' (an engine with the crankshaft and connecting rods altered to give greater displacement). I also replaced the three-speed auto gearbox with a five-speed manual.
James at the wheel of his Mustang GTA Fastback
Proper cornering meant changing the suspension: out with the old leaf springs and in with independent shocks. I got a new prop shaft, threw the medieval drum brakes in the bin and ordered new disc brakes. After every Saturday Kitchen for a year, I got my overalls on to inspect the work, as all those manhours of skilled labour gradually started to pay off.
Finally, with the engine working and the British-made panels fitting perfectly, the thing had a pulse. Then came the colour choice. A hard decision - green, like McQueen's Bullitt car? Black, white or blue?
In the end I went for deep purple - the only one on the road, as Quentin assures me he will not do another. The inside was going to be leather, but I swapped it for black Alcantara - a synthetic suede - just after I test-drove the amazing Lamborghini Gallardo. I love this material so much I even got my man Vince at Gibson Trimming to do the roof lining and boot in it. It's outstanding work - the result is a car you want to sit in and stroke.
The steering wheel is British, from Moto-Lita, while the gauges came from JME (after a delay of a few months due to the California brush fires). The car also features a custom exhaust by Electromec, with a button to open the baffles and give you the full, fiery roar of the 450bhp engine.
My first drive in it was one of the best experiences of my life. It did everything we intended it to do: it started, went (0-60 in 5.5 seconds), stopped and, most importantly, cornered on rails.
It still takes pride of place in my garage, and means more to me than supercars at the same price (which was probably over £100,000 by the time we'd finished). It was a two-year labour of love, a nightmare at times, but I'd do it again - and I reckon more people should give it a try.
Why? Because this, ladies and gentlemen, is a showcase for British engineering. If they'd made Mustangs like this in the first place, they would have been the best cars in history. It makes me proud to know we still have the finest craftsmen in the world, and that whoever ends up owning this car in the future will lift its all-American hood and find a little badge inside.
It says, 'Made In Britain.'
From left-to-right: The new 5.4-litre 'stroker' engine, the chrome wing mirror and the Shelby Cobra badge
The British-made Moto-Lita steering wheel (left) and the muscular-looking instrument panel (right)
TECH SPEC
Price in 1967 Around $3,000
Engine Original: 4.74-litre V8. Now: 5.4-litre V8
Power Original: 225bhp. Now: 450bhp
Max torque Original: 414Nm at 3,200rpm. Now: 542Nm at 3,600rpm
Transmission Original: C4 Cruise-O-Matic automatic. Now: T5 five-speed manual
Brakes Original: Discs front, drums rear. Now: RRS front and rear discs
Suspension Original: upper and lower arm (front), leaf spring (rear). Now: MacPherson strut with micro-adjustable damping (front), RRS threelink set-up with Watt's linkage, torque tube and adjustable coil-over shock absorbers (rear)
HOW IT WAS DONE
Quentin Carmichael of Carmichael Sport Cars, Southampton, explains how he transformed James's Mustang: 'Once we'd decided not to do an exact restoration, it opened up huge possibilities. There's a whole industry now catering for people who want classic cars that drive like modern cars - and you can't blame them: old cars were unreliable, uncomfortable and dangerous.
'With James's car, we came up with the idea of making it look like a Shelby GT350 from the outside, while inside there's air conditioning, surround sound and a touch-sensitive CD/DVD player.
'We chose the Shelby GT partly because it was a cool, iconic badge, but also because the improvements we'd made to the drivetrain were similar to those made by [former racing driver] Carroll Shelby on his Mustangs, when Ford commissioned him in 1964 to make performance versions to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette.
'From the Cobra badge to the side-scoops to the power-bulge in the bonnet, what was once a standard-issue Mustang now looks exactly like the special-edition Shelby GT350. I wouldn't say it was easy - we ordered 2,000 parts from America, only two of which fitted!
The stripped down Mustang takes on its new shape
'We chose a V8 engine from Transam Racing in California which increased the top speed to 140mph. For brakes and suspension, we went to RRS in Australia. As well as the changes listed in Tech Spec, we installed new RRS rack-and-pinion power steering. Other parts were supplied by ARP near Durham. The last big changes were replacing the fuel tank with a safe bladder tank and replacing the ignition with an multiple-spark-discharge system.'
Carmichael Sport Cars, 01794 367555; ARP, 01207 588555; rrs-online.com; transamracing.net
...and the finished result
BIRTH OF A LEGEND
The Ford Mustang was launched in 1964 after an internal competition to design an affordable sports coupe with Ferrari and Maserati influences. The company only expected sales of 100,000 models - but sold a million in the first 18 months, leading rivals to create their own 'pony cars'.
In 1967, with the Plymouth Barracuda, Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro threatening the Mustang's dominance, Ford redesigned the car with bigger engines, improved suspension, bigger bodies and more muscular looks.
The new Fastback model's roofline swept all the way from the windscreen to the new concave rear end. The one Steve McQueen drove in Bullitt was built in 1968 - but the 'Eleanor' Mustang stolen by Nicolas Cage in Gone In 60 Seconds was a '67.
