Blog: THE V8 INTERCEPTOR

The idea for the V8 Interceptor has been bangin’ around in my head for a number of years, just waiting for a chance to get out. I have always loved the early Mercury Cougars and figured I wasn’t the only one, so I knew that people would want to see a high performance street machine project that wasn’t just the typical early Mustang or Camaro. I also wanted the feel and direction of the buildup to be based around the natural mystique of the Cougar. These cars with their hidden headlights and sequential taillights were always very sinister and menacing looking on the street, very much like a smaller coupe version of the legendary 68-70 Dodge Charger. When you add to that the fact that a four-footed Cougar is one of nature’s most perfect natual “interceptors”, you’ve got the basis for a great project. I mean, in the wild a Cougar will chase down a Mustang or Firebird, or Impala and eat it!....... is that a great visual for a hot street predator or what!?!

But it didn’t just stop there. Calling a project “the V8 Interceptor” takes a lot of balls, because you’ve got to be able to back that name up, just as the legendary Mad Max car did years ago. So I definitely wanted to add in a little flavor of the original Mad Max car, but also step beyond that and build a car that nobody has really considered or visualized yet. This is, of course, is one of the main purposes and goals of GEARZ. To encourage people to think beyond the boundaries, and limits that they already know and see, and get really creative when they are building their projects. Just because you have a Chevelle or Roadrunner doesn’t mean you have to build an SS or 440 six pack clone. There are SO many other things that you can do to these cars to make them different and up-to-date without destroying the original magic of the car. And if you take your time and do it right, you’ll probably end up with a car that is more valuable and definitely more cool then just another clone, and the idea behind the V8 Interceptor is to prove that point.

The center piece of this project is the incredible Boss Nine engine I am using from Jon Kaase Racing. From the outside this thing looks just like the legendary Boss 429 but this is 520 cubic inches of Ford Hemi that is twisting the dyno at just under 800hp and an astounding 700ft/lbs of torque! Mash the throttle on this thing, and all that torque could affect the Earth’s rotation! Topping it off will be a custom Hilborne 8-stack injection that is going to stick up thru the hood with ram tubes going all different directions. Intimidating???...... you bet!

Backing that up is the new Magnum 6spd tranny from Tremec that is designed to handle that kind of power, and an entire clutch and driveshaft system from American Powertrain.

The only way an engine this size will fit in an early Ford is if you remove the shock towers, and using a kit from Total Cost Involved we did just that. We removed the shock towers and installed TCI’s state of the art independent front suspension that includes a complete subframe assembly to stiffen the unibody. A TCI rear torque arm suspension will do it’s best to plant all that power to the ground and pulling everything to a stop are are Wilwood 13” rotors and 6 piston calipers in front, and 4 piston calipers in rear. The rearend is the massive Fab 9 nine inch Ford from Currie Enterprises and it’s packing a tru-trac posi and forged 31 spline axles.

To bring the original interior and body back to life, we hooked up with the Cougar specialists at West Coast Classic Cougar for things like upholstery, weatherstripping, sheetmetal, etc, and for any Mustang parts we may incorporate into the project we have been using Mustangs unlimited, Year One, and other suppliers.

Of course this is just the tip of the iceburg on this project, but hopefully you get the idea. So what am I going to do with the car when it’s done? Well……… the plans are definitely to run road courses and other racing events like the Maxton Monster Mile…….Blast it down the drag strip from time to time…….Drive it across country on events like Power tour and hit some shows like SEMA so people can get a good look at it……and at some point, take it up over 200 MPH just to show that it can be done. But,…. let’s not forget the most important job of a car like this……to run down and eat anything that tries to get ahead of it…….because…..well…….that’s what Interceptors do! HA….ha……ha…..

Hope this helps