Racing analyst and TV personality Rutledge Wood spent several hours on the opening day of 2017 SEMA Show chatting with fans while standing proudly next to his recently rebuilt 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback. The Mustang was purchased on eBay Motors, with parts handpicked from eBay’s wide selection of parts and accessories.
The Fastback’s dream team of builders included Rut, automotive artist K.C. Mathieu, formerly of Gas Monkey Garage’s Fast N’ Loud, and Mike Finnegan, as seen on Roadkill and Finnegan’s Garage on YouTube. Much of the work was performed by Randy Allgood at Kenwood Rod Shop, the Georgia-based shop that produced the outrageous classics on the History Channel’s “Lost in Transmission.”
Mike Finnegan tries the TMI seats on for size.
Mike Finnegan looked on the scene at the Las Vegas Convention Center—and reflected on the creativity and hard work that went into creating the rally-ready classic Mustang over the past five months. “This is surreal. The outlandish car concepts we joked about at dinner one night turned into a fantastic rendering,” said Mike. “And now, in the shortest amount of time humanly possible, we’ve turned those ideas into an amazing car that will get auctioned off in less than two days.”
Rut posed with fans in front of the rowdy eBay Motors ’67 Mustang.
Rebuilding and modifying the car on an aggressive schedule was a learning experience. “Timing was definitely the hardest part of this build,” said Rut. “It’s tricky to make the fenders fit the wheels when you don’t even have the wheels because they were getting built custom and hadn’t arrived yet.”
Nonetheless, Rut and crew made it work. “Now, it’s a beautiful running and driving piece of art,” he said. “If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t do anything different.” The inspiration for the eBay Motors ’67 Fastback came from a trio Hollywood Mustang Movies: Bullitt, Gone in Sixty Seconds, and the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.
The team is especially proud of the look of the Inglese injector stacks.
“Evel Knievel meets an old-school rally car” was how Rut explained the concept. “But it needed some modern flair and technology,” he said. “The Inglese injector stacks was a perfect way to broadcast that we have a 427 under the hood.”
The Ford Performance 427 Cubic Inch 535-horsepower engine’s Inglese injector stacks are also one of Mike’s favorite parts of the build. “You get the drivability of electronic fuel injection with the looks of a traditional mechanical injection system,” said Mike. “Mechanical fuel injection is an on/off switch. Now, this is something you can drive across America.”
“The most fun part of this whole project is getting to work with my friends,” said Mike. “Rutledge and I live only an hour apart but we don’t get to really hang out until SEMA every year. But this project allowed us to spend more time together, dream up an incredible car, and then celebrate its completion with fans at SEMA.”
Live bidding for the ’67 Mustang is in full swing at SEMA. Or go online to eBay to place your bid:
> Bid now on the eBay Motors 1967 Mustang Fastback
The eBay Motors auction concludes at 1:10 PM PST on Thursday, Nov. 2. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The winner will be announced at 2:00 PM.
See Model Mustang Body Type Fastback for sale on eBay.
