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Martini Mustang is a 'what if moment' gone right

Feast your eyes on a masterpiece. This is Steve Strope's Ford Mustang in the classic fastback bodystyle, and as you'll notice, it sports the signature colors of Martini Racing, a livery that's as legendary as any Gulf Racing-styled car. But the red, white and blues of the Martini stripe down this Mustang's middle tell only a very small part of the story, in the latest video from Petrolicious.
What would you guess is under the hood? A 289-cubic-inch V8? Maybe a 302, or some absurd Ford crate engine? Maybe Strope went all Tokyo Drift - he's actually responsible for the "Hammer" Plymouth Satellite driven by Vin Diesel at the end of the movie - and found an RB26DETT to drop into the pony car? You'd be wrong on all counts.
This mad, mad man somehow finagled a Ford-Lotus engine from a 1966 Indianapolis 500 car into the Mustang's engine bay. Yes, a Mustang with an engine designed for a 160-mile-per-hour, open-wheel racecar. That's like someone in 40 years dropping McLaren's 2.4-liter V8 from the MP4-28 into a Scion FR-S. It'd just make a monster.

Introducing the 1965 Ford Mustang

Put on your space suits and diving bell helmets, for it's time to step into a time capsule. The 50th anniversary of a historic model, like, say, the Porsche 911 this year, is certain to bring flights of nostalgia. This historical trip with the 1965 Mustang, though - preliminary hype for next year's anniversary, we know - is a swell museum exhibit for anyone who enjoys bygone days of the automobile.
Lee Iaccoca gave a speech to motoring journalists on April 1, 1964 at the New York World's Fair to introduce a sporty car for younger drivers. His opening line: "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to one of the proudest moments of our lives." The company was so excited by what it had made that the Mustang was Ford's first "International Press Introduction," being introduced to some 2,000 journos around the world on the same day in the US and 11 European cities. Even through its difficult points, no one at the time could have known how well the Mustang would acquit that pride.
After the intro, the press drove Mustangs 750 miles from New York to Dearborn, MI, reading press kits that touted features like the "vertical, three-sectional taillights/turn signals," "170" six-cylinder engine with 101 horsepower and the available Cruise-O-Matic transmission.

This Ford F-150 might have a Land Rover turbodiesel V6

Our spy photographers just caught this Ford F-150 driving around Dearborn, wearing camouflage around the bed – not so unusual near Ford's headquarters. What's interesting with this particular mule is that it might be packing a Jaguar-Land Rover turbodiesel V6. As with the Super Duty, the F-150 prototype pictured here sports a Venturi exhaust tip popping out the side of the rear bumper behind the wheel, which – along with the sound reported by our shutterbug – suggests that it's burning oil up front. That could mean Ford has found another application for the 3.2-liter, five-cylinder Power Stroke diesel that it just federalized for the Transit van. However our sources suggest what the mule is actually powered by the 3.0-liter Lion V6 diesel that Jaguar Land Rover – once subsidiaries in Ford's Premier Automotive Group – is bringing over for the Td6 models of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. The engine produces a respectable 254 horsepower and a healthy 443 pound-feet of torque, and is tipped to be mated to the same ten-speed automatic transmission as the new Raptor. That could give the F-150 the kind of fuel economy and muscle it would need to challenge the likes of the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel and the heavier-duty Nissan Titan with the Cummins engine. With gas prices as low as they are, however, and sales of diesel-powered vehicles lagging, Ford could just be trying to keep up with the competition by offering a light-duty diesel pickup. With its lightweight aluminum body, the diesel F-150 could even surpass the Duramax diesel-powered Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon for frugality at the pumps, according to Mark Williams of PickupTrucks.com. He told Autoblog that, "it makes perfect sense for Ford to do a diesel. It seems like everyone is pushing them to do a Ranger, but if they can get the F-150 to push 30 mpg it can challenge the Ram Ecodiesel and even the Colorado Duramax." Reached for comment, Ford spokesman Mike Levine sent us the following statement: "We do not speculate about future products. While diesel is a solution, it is not the solution. EcoBoost offers the ideal combination of performance and fuel economy that over 60 percent of F-150 customers are choosing." Featured Gallery 2017 Ford F-150 Diesel: Spy Shots Image Credit: Brian Williams / SpiedBilde Green Spy Photos Ford Land Rover Truck Diesel Vehicles jaguar land rover ford f-150 diesel