SP Rides: A Real Work of Art
BY MICHAEL KITCHENS
Year, make, model: 1992 Ford Mustang Notchback
Owner: Bradley Bove
Occupation: U.S. Air Force
Hobbies: Family and cars
Color: Black, with red pin striping and custom aircraft paint scheme
Engine: fortified 302 cubic inch short block.Aluminum AFR cylinder heads, Long Tube Headers, X pipe, Flowmaster mufflers with dumps, Comp Cams roller rockers, high lift Comp Cams Drag camshaft. Edelbrock Victor Jr. square-bore intake manifold. Fuel Air Spark Technology (FAST) 2.0 fuel injected throttle body with XFI sportsman CPU. Nitrous Express Main-Line wet shot plate system with 150 horsepower jets with purge setup. MSD distributor with MSD 6AL-2 ignition and two-step launch control. C4 transmission with manual valve body and 4000 rpm stall converter. Battery relocated to the trunk. Inner fenders modified, and solenoids/wiring harnesses hidden, Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump/return system
Exterior: 4-inch cowl induction hood, custom/airbrushed aircraft paint scheme
Interior: Roll cage, original front and rear Ford cloth seats, B&M racing rachet shifter, FAST XFI sportsman computer monitor screen, tach, shift-light.
Suspension: Stock front member, sub-frame connectors, upper and lower rear control arms, Eibach drag launch springs, traction bars. 4:56 rear gears with locking diff and upgraded axles. Aerospace components rear brakes.
Wheels: Five-lug wheel conversion. Race Star drag wheels 5-by-15 front, 8-by-15 rear. Mickey Thompson 275 ET Street Drag radials
When you build a car, sometimes it can be difficult to know where to go. This 1992 Ford Mustang Notchback has something of an identity crisis. It doesn’t know whether it wants to be a street car or a drag car. Currently, it identifies as an airplane. I mean, just look at that artwork!
Owned by Bradley Bove, this has been hand-built with a lot of blood, sweat and tears. And even a little bit of help from his kids and wife. He’s always been into domestics and has building rides since high school. Now an accomplished aviation painter and fabrication functional manager, the man knows how to paint. In fact, he was featured on an episode of Car Warriors where he was the saving grace on the paint side.
That same theme carried over into this incredible work of art. Hand-painted in his own garage while in Guam, this ride has an attractive silver and black theme with red pin striping. The notable part is the incredible airbrushing that has turned this ride into an aircraft on attack.
Hand-sprayed rivets, flames and seams really give this ride a super-aggressive look. It doesn’t hurt that this car is obviously pushing power thanks to that bulging hood and wheel setup. And it looks pretty brand spanking new thanks to the upgraded headlights and tails as well.
The artwork is there for a reason — this is a fortified 302 cubic inch short block that’s had all of the goodies thrown in for good measure. To include a massive 150 horsepower wet shot of Nitrous. Described as a gut shot, this baby will throw you back in the seat when you stomp the throttle. One look inside the car’s engine bay and it’s obvious that it’s been worked over. The battery doesn’t even reside there anymore — it’s in the trunk in a special container.
The transmission has been updated to a C4 with a manual valve body and a 4,000 rpm stall converter with 4:56 gears and a locking diff. And the interior showcases the fact that it’s not necessarily meant to look pretty and scare old ladies.
The interior features a full roll cage, a B&M racing ratchet shifter, and a sick FAST XFI Sportsman computer monitor along with the requisite tach and shift light. Not a bad looking interior either for a car that’s 27 years old!
The suspension is no longer stock and has been set for drag racing — featuring sub-frame connectors, upper and lower rear control arms, a set of Eibach Drag Launch springs, as well as traction bars. It’s definitely ready to morph the asphalt into a buttery black goo with the five-lug Race Star Drag Wheels front and rear. Mickey Thompsons are the tires of choice for this baby.
For Bove, it’s more about being able to do things yourself rather than buying it. He likes to see what people can do with a little ingenuity and self-taught skills. It’s one of the ways he’s been able to make the incredible friends over the years that he has. “When you give someone your time, you’re giving them more than money,” said Bove.
