LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: the 1964 Indy Pace Car. YES, I built a Mustang!

[ismaelg]

Hello,

OK, I am trying to break the internet here.  I BUILT A MUSTANG!!!!   If this doesn't break the internet nothing will 🙂

Here is the story:

My good friend Roberto Fanfan (Madslammer here) runs the biggest local model car only show of the year: Modelmania.  Every year, a special theme is presented.  At every show, the theme for next year is announced.  In August 2023, it was announced that the theme for 2024 was going to be "Class of '64: American cars from 1964, street legal, no race cars"

So everybody started preparing for that.  My immediate thought was a 1964 Corvette, a project which has been stalled for years.  But at my very slow pace, I really doubted I could finish it in time.  So why not something completely unexpected but still something I like?  Of course I am a big Indy fan.  The Pace Car for the 1964 Indy 500 was the then new Ford Mustang.  Sure, the car was technically a '65, but it is informally known as '64 1/2.   I checked with Roberto for eligibility and he said "Go for it!"

So I embarked in new territory. not my first Ford, but not common for me.  I actually remember building an Otaki Mustang (1971?) which I won as a raffle prize in a show, and an '87 Mustang GT (MPC?) both when I was a teenager.  But this is my first serious Mustang project.  I am a hardcore Chevy guy, but as a car guy, I do like early Mustangs up to ~1970.

But guess what: The 2024 show came and this project was only halfway done!  Of course I did not finish it on time.  Fast forward, the 2025 show is in about a week and I pushed hard to complete it, only a year late! 🙂 

This was kind of a secret project, so no build thread was created here.  I did have one in the Motorsports forum so you can check it out: https://race-car-models.proboards.com/thread/3319/secret-project-doing-mustang-indy 

The real thing is a one of one, currently owned by Bill Ford, the Executive Chair of Ford Motor Company. Short story is 3 cars were pulled out of the manufacturing line the very first hour of Mustang Production, March 9th, 1964. This is most likely the earliest surviving production Mustang. The 3 cars were sent to Holman Moody for extensive modifications for Pace Car duties.  Only 2 cars were rushed to completion, but one of them was not ready on race day.  So there was only ONE pace car: this one.

Modifications include:

engine from a GT40: (detuned because it would destroy the chassis at full power) 
beefed up tranny, radiator, dual belt pulleys, etc.
reworked suspension with orange Koni shocks, lowered, etc.
Additional bracing to stiffen the chassis/body
the car was repainted from Wimbledon white to "pace car white"  which was most likely truck fleet bright white so it would "show" better on newspaper and TV  
Race equipment including 2way radio, extra antennas, grab handles in the back, passenger sun visor replaced with grab handle, flag poles, decals, etc.
plus many others

I heavily modified the Monogram kit to actually represent the real car. Lots of scratchbuilding including the flags among many others.  Countless hours were spent researching the real thing down to the bolts.

May I present the Corvette's guy interpretation of the 1964 Indy 500 Pace car Mustang, driven by Benson Ford, son of Edsel Ford, grandkid of Henry Ford, uncle of current owner Bill Ford.

 

Some of the in progress pics:

Heavily modified, fully wired, fully plumbed. Only thing missing is oil in the pan 🙂 Don't start it!

 

 

Hope you like it!

Your questions, comments and feedback are always appreciated.

Thanks,
Ismael

Edited Friday at 04:47 PM by ismaelg

[TarheelRick]

Very impressive build, exceptional detail work.  Which kit did you build from?

[ismaelg]

Hello,

I started with the Monogram Pace car kit.  I got this pristine brand new kit: 🙂

The kit is really a 65 Mustang with the decals so it was heavily modified.  The decals were unusable so I hunted down a long discontinued Fred Cady set.

Important note: The blue stripes are not decals. Those are masked and painted.

 

Thanks,
Ismael

[bh1701]

Looks great. All of additions you made look fantastic!

Glad you found a pristine kit - nothing about that box would suggest otherwise! 🙂

Bart

[espo]

Very realistic looking Pace Car trim and paint. Like the engine and chassis detailing. 

[Jim B]

Beautiful Mustang.  Very well done.

[ea0863]

Just wonderful Ismael, not only in the stunning model building, but also with the beautiful photography!

[bondo bill]

great job on research and the build

[charger74]

Looks very good 

[XYHARRY]

Really nice pace car, the flags and extra details make it stand out. Really well done Ismael. 

[Darbo]

I bet you paid a pretty penny for that pristine kit Ismael!
Fantastic build