Gumball 2003 Ford Mustang story
Today we take you back to the Gumball 2003 rally, where a duo of muscle cars are ready for the start. From the site FordMuscle.com we found a really interesting story about these old Mustangs.
Mikelonis was reminded of the discrepancy when a Texas Ranger pulled him over 3 days into the race and cynically pointed it out. Not many drivers take on the Gumball 3000 alone. Kevin was joined this year by co-pilot Tommi Kukkonen of Finland, making the #178 Gran Torino the car of “Team Guts”.
The other Ford muscle car in this years Gumball 3000 is car number 77, a 1966 Mustang fastback. The brilliant blue 2+2 features a host of suspension and chassis modifications making it perform on par with the BMW and Porches in the field.The “Team Guts” #178 Gran Torino and the #77 Mustang Fastback were both main attractions in front of the Fairmont Hotel. When positioned against the reoccuring profiles of Ferraris, Lambroghinis, and Porsches these Fords really popped. A quick survey of the crowd surrounding the two Fords told us that today classic Ford muscle has greater mass appeal than the $200K+ European sports machines. Just an hour before the race began a cameo appearance from San Francisco’s Mayor Willy Brown set the crowd into a roar, proving that most of the drivers and onlookers were drunk with excitement. The cars then set off for a one hour parade lap around San Francisco with a special trip down the famous Lombard Street, the most crooked street in America. A few drivers were ticketed with excess speed within city limits. Both of our featured drivers were able to control themselves until they got out of the San Francisco Bay Area, less this little outburst from “Team Guts” and their Gran Torino prior to the parade lap.
All drivers were supplied with a race booklet prior to leaving San Francisco, which they were required to have stamped at certain locations along the course to Miami. The racers exited San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge heading for their first checkpoint in Reno, Nevada. Participants were not expecting much hoopla in Reno since the stop was only a checkpoint. That changed when an awaiting crowd of more than 2,500 Gumball fans lined the illuminated downtown strip. The crowd, conditioned to see only “exoticars”, went into a frenzy when the 1972 Gran Torino and 1966 Mustang Fatsback cruised in with contrasting style and sound. The resonation of their Ford V8’s breathing easily through flowmasters had an affect on the crowd that the European dream machines could not match. Red carpets lined the sidewalks for arriving drivers which lead to lavish parties on top of Reno’s finest casinos. Team Guts reported leaving San Francisco at 8:30pm in 136th position and arriving in Reno at 11:00pm in 19th position. Drivers left Reno headed for Miami and the required stops inbetween. FordMuscle will be back to report the highlights including this alleged statement from Alabama Police. “Gumballers are banned from our State, any Gumballer who crosses state lines will have their car impounded and spend a night in jail.”