This 1965 Ford Mustang has seen a remarkable array of modifications including the use of many parts from a 2020 Mustang GT350, turning it into an exceptionally quick car producing almost 500 horsepower.
One of the reasons the car looks so strange is that GT350 front and rear subframes were fitted, requiring the original 1965 bodywork to be cut and significantly widened.
Fast Facts – A Chimera 1965 Ford Mustang
- In Greek mythology a Chimera is a monstrous, fire-breathing hybrid creature made up of different animal parts – often depicted as a lion with the head of a goat and a tail with a snake’s head. The name seems apropos for the car shown here, a Mustang made up of parts from more than one vehicle.
- The Mustang was first put on sale in 1964 as a notchback coupe or a convertible, with the fastback coupe not arriving until later in the year. It single handedly launched the “Pony Car” genre and spawned a cascade of similar models from competing automakers.
- Many racing versions of the Mustang have been built, the most famous likely being the Shelby GT350 of the mid-1960s.
- The car you see here incorporates the bodywork of a 1965 Mustang with front and rear subframes from a 2020 GT350, and a Ford Coyote V8 now producing close to 500 bhp.
A Highly-Modified ’65 Mustang
This car started life as a standard 1965 Ford Mustang in the notchback coupe body style, over 550,000 1965 Mustangs were built in total – wildly surpassing even Ford’s most optimistic projections. At the time of the model’s introduction no one could have guessed that updated versions of the car would still be in production almost 60 years later.
With the underpinnings of a 2020 GT350 and power provided by a 5.0 liter Coyote V8 producing almost 500 bhp, this 1965 Mustang is vastly quicker than it ever could have been stock.
This Mustang lived much of its life as a normal car until the project to rebuild it began in August of 2019. The original unibody shell was kept but much of the rest of the car was removed, and a slew of parts from a donor 2020 Mustang GT350 were acquired.
A series of major modifications were then undertaken to attach the front and rear subframes from the GT350 to the original car. This significantly widened it, and so the original body was cut and widened to match.
The front suspension now consists of custom-fabricated A-arms and hardware, as well as adjustable Penske coilovers. Brembo brakes were sourced from the GT350 and matched with two-piece Racing Brake rotors.
The rear suspension comes from the GT350, it’s an all-independent suspension set up with a custom anti-sway bar and Penske coilovers to match the front. For safety and optimal chassis rigidity the car has a full tubular chromoly roll cage as well as Status carbon-fiber bucket seats and racing harnesses.
It’s clear that the car is set up for track and fast road use, with a paddle-shifted 10-speed triple-clutch automatic transmission and independent front and rear suspension on adjustable Penske coilovers.
Power is provided by a third generation 5.0 liter Ford Coyote V8, in stock trim this engine produces 460 bhp and 420 lb ft of torque however this one has had a series of modifications applied to increase power including the intake, throttle body, and oiling system from the GT350, and a cold air box and Kooks exhaust headers that exit into a 3″ exhaust system.
Power is sent back through a paddle shift-equipped Ford 10R80 10-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels, and the car rides on black 18×12″ alloy CCW wheels front and rear shod with 315/30 Yokohama Advan A052 tires.
This highly unusual Mustang is now for sale out of Indianapolis, Indiana on Bring a Trailer with an Ohio title. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
