Words: Tommy Parry
Any rusted Mustang earns a place in our heart, but an overhaul this elaborate and a powerplant this exotic deserves the spotlight. Tony is the owner of American Legends Hot Rods and Muscle Cars; he wanted to bring something genuinely unique to SEMA this year, and came up with a very peculiar build. There have been plenty of stunning Mustangs to gawk at on this site, but none of them have used a Ferrari V8 for their propulsion.
Tony previously added Ridetech air suspension; shaved the cowl vent, door handles, emblems; fabbed a reclining trunk spoiler; and made steel quarter extensions which he incorporated into the body and the rear bumper. Then he added ground effects and, most notably, chopped the top 2.5″ straight down. The windshield is at the stock angle, and the rear window was laid down and flushed while still retaining the stock size. The windshield was made from flush-mounted glass, cut to fit, and the door glass, which omits the the vent window, is made from acrylic.
The wrinkled red valve covers ought to give it away, but in case they don’t: the powerplant is a Ferrari F136. The Ferrari engine came to be for several reasons. Tony started building this car twelve years ago, doing a majority of the sheet metal work before he ran out of both time and money. It sat for around ten years before he could add a high-revving, bold, unconventional V8 that would stun the audience once the hood popped. The car, in his opinion, is the opposite of what a majority of people would do and that’s what makes it unique and wrong at the same time — hence the name Corruptt.
This 4.2-liter engine makes roughly 400 horsepower in stock configuration, but Tony made quite a few custom touches to make it operate correctly in its new home. To locate the throttle bodies correctly in a front engine application, a Ferrari California intake manifold was sourced, and LS 92MM throttle bodies help open the engine up somewhat more. Next, Tony water-jetted all the pieces to fit the engine. The throttle body flanges were welded to the intake so he could bolt on the LS twin throttle bodies. With an MS3Pro ECU to manage this custom powerplant, he was looking to squeeze quite a few more prancing horses out of it — with some added help from a with a set of T-4 turbochargers.
Somehow, Tony managed to mate a tried-and-true Tremec T-56 gearbox to the Ferrari engine. Then he had a rendering done to direct the course of construction; the sketch helped him choose a color and wheel fitment. After a trip to the media blaster, he had a truly stunning platform into which he could place an exotic powerplant.
Surprisingly, it fits under the hood, but it’s a bit tight around the shock towers, which Tony decided to retain as he has most of the Ridetech suspension catalog and those pieces are simply fantastic. Though it’s a spacious bay, the two turbochargers do hog up quite a bit of room. Lastly, he had the driver side of the manifold fitted with injectors and machined the Holley fuel rail to work in its new environment.
As there’s not much space left in the cramped bay, Tony’s currently building a Schedule 10 stainless manifold, with a ⅜” stainless flange, which will be stronger, fit the confines of the bay and support the turbo better as well. Eventually, this will blend into a side-exiting Flowmaster custom exhaust setup for an otherworldly shriek.
Tony intends to debut the car at SEMA before taking it to Goodguys, the Grand Nationals, Hot August Nights and anywhere else on the show circuit that appeals. Even better — Corruptt will do autocross events and maybe some ½-mile events further down the road. What’s for certain — this car will amaze some and insult others, but nobody witnessing this incredible car will sit comfortably on the fence.
