Watch Matt Farah Drive a 2002 Mustang Cobra Grand-Am Championship Car
When it comes to vintage racing on the cheap, the answer isn’t always Miata anymore.
In his latest One Take video, Matt Farah visits the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California to show us a custom 2002 Mustang Cobra that won the Grand-Am SportsCar Series' GS-Class Championship. This is a slight departure from Matt's usual drives; you know things are serious when he leaves his signature sunglasses behind in favor of a racing helmet. This car was built for the track, though, so the Angeles Crest Highway wouldn't be the ideal landscape.
The subject in question is a 2002 Mustang Cobra, bought brand new by STEEDA and almost completely rebuilt for racing. To meet class regulations, the tuning company did away with the old supercharged 4.6L engine for a bigger, naturally-aspirated 5.0L V8 putting out 450 horses. After shaving off a couple hundred pounds of weight, fitting a custom 6-speed transmission, and adding some other track-ready goodies, STEEDA sold this car for $15,000 to its current owner - not a bad price compared to the Spec Mazda Miatas usually seen as one of the cheapest deals in organized racing.
Although he's only allowed three laps in the car, Farah gives us a good idea of how this brute drives. Despite some confusion from a few renegade pace trucks, he manages to put the 'Stang through its paces without any issues.
Times have changed and so has the term "vintage"—yes, at over 15 years of age this Mustang Cobra now qualifies as such. So the next time you're looking for a car to get it on the old-school racing scene, Farah wants you to remember that the phrase "Miata is always the answer" doesn't necessarily apply.