Total Package GT 350 Set to Kill

Frank Stagnaro is also a competitor in and Chairman of the American Autocross Series, which caters to the higher caliber metal: Vettes, 'Stangs, Zs, Camaros and Firebirds, you name it, on much faster tracks (130+ mph) where the SCCA's standard fare of "pure handling" sports cars (never much more than 70 mph) don't have the wind to compete.

No Fluff
Now consider the focal point of all this motorvation: a Mustang. This car isn't the concours 100-pointer some purists seek. Frankly, some restoration guys will scuttle for cover at the sight of Frank's car (frightened children, too), but if a fella looks closely and thinks about things, he'll see this is an evolutionary piece: constantly growing, progressing, becoming the Total Package over and over again. That's the sort of improvement that made the GT 350 and future Shelbys such great cars—Shelby raced 'em first. Race on Sunday, sell on Monday, right? It just so happens that this GT 350 forgot to stop its mutation and, well, look at it. They don't come more dialed. It actually started out as a 1320-car, which Frank campaigned against big blocks because "that was all that stood a chance." This GT 350 then changed course, started to autocross in '69, and here we are.


The engine is an early small block, solid lifter Ford 302, cleaned up to 305. A Holley 600, fixed to breathe 800cfm by a man named "Blake," lies between the heads, while the rest was dubbed "$13G of none-of-your-business." The gearbox is still a 10-bolt top loader, but behind it glares an aluminum driveshaft that reaches back to the full-float, aluminum carrier 9-inch rear end that spins a 5.14 motive gear NASCAR-style billet steel Detroit Locker and gun-drilled 31-spline axles.


The underpinnings are NOT a secret, and Frank encourages others to use this setup because it works so well. Inspired by Bill Maier's Will Moody '82 Trans Am Mustang arrangement, the Total Package wears a tri-link rear with a diagonal lower link and standard override-radius upper link. Forward arms are double-wishbone. Coil-overs are all around. Rolling stock bears thick Simmons 16x12-inch wheels and 27x14x16 Goodyear slicks. Brakes are Wilwood discs at all four points.


The interior makes spartan look downright comfy, but it goes to work and comes home for dinner. Mike Maier, who claims to know a thing or two about welding, calls the 16-point cage "Indestructo-Cage." Gauges are few, switches are fewer. This is one definition of turnkey racecar—get in, start it, race it, park it and shut it down.