Guys who eschew the norm are cool, but the ones who tap-dance all over it and bring a sense of style and nastiness to uncommon cars are our Dare to Be Different heros. Just about everything has been drag raced at some point, but the elite club of cars that have been prepped for severe road racing is much more selective. All the more reason to break out of the routine of expected platforms and create something new, we say. But there is a delicate balance to strike when treading into that territory. A phantom car is cool and is a great way to let your imagination run wild, but it has to give off the right hard-core vibe or it's just another poser.

When we first happened upon this little Ranchero at a SoCal car show, it caught our eye with its striking two-tone paint, but we nearly passed it by as just another nice surfboard hauler. Then we noticed the re-arched and flared wheelwells covering what appeared to be really wide PS Engineering wheels wrapped in Hoosier slicks. And is that an airscoop below the front bumper? A glance inside at the Spartan NASCAR-esque interior with a full rollcage passing through the back glass and through an aluminum bedcover definitely piqued our attention. Right about that time, owner Larry Miller walked over and popped the hood, revealing a full-race Ford small-block.Larry smiled wryly and explained that he'd always been a fan of NASCAR and vintage Trans-Am, and he'd always wondered why no one road races the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks. One day it dawned on him that he could mash up the two and create a vintage Trans-Am truck, something that never was raced but conceivably could have been.

That immediately threw out regular pickups, but Larry didn't have to look any farther than his own garage to find the right platform-a '65 Ford Falcon Ranchero. Falcons have been road raced since the '60s and share a great number of components with Mustangs, but he'd never seen a Ranchero decked out in full Trans-Am battle trim.

But Larry didn't want the Ranchero to just look like some phantom road race truck; he wanted the real deal. To make it happen, he took it to Mike Eisenberg and his crew at Maeco Motorsport of Northridge, California (www.maeco motorsport.com). Maeco is well versed in vintage road racing and campaigns a host of very successful Trans-Am Mustangs, Cobras, and Camaros. Mike was intrigued by the project and had no doubt that he could make the truck handle.

Since there is no sanctioned vintage truck racing series, and the Ranchero could only be driven at open-road track events anyway, Larry and Mike agreed that they wouldn't attempt to adhere to any weight, tire, or horsepower restrictions. The plan was to keep the original lines of the Ranchero and to keep it streetable with wipers, horn, lights, and so on, but the goodies to make it go, stop, and turn would be the best modern race parts Mike could round up.

Larry's dream was to get a legitimate NASCAR engine between the shock towers, but that was thought to be financially unfeasible. Then, one morning early in the build, Mike called Larry and told him that he had inside information on a Busch NASCAR team that was defecting from Ford to Dodge and was liquidating its leftover engines. A new Cosworth-built Ford small-block was available for a mere fraction of its worth. Larry says, "Mike told me I did not even have enough time to go ask my wife; I had to decide then. So I went for it." Larry was giddy over the deal because he figured that since the engine is based on a Windsor design, it would drop right in. Wrong! With a 9.2-inch deck height and Yates heads, major cutting, welding, and adjustments were required to make it all fit. The rest of the truck received Maeco's standard full-race, vintage Trans-Am prep front to rear.

After several months of work, Larry took the Ranchero to Willow Springs Raceway for its first real shakedown run to see if it could handle a road course. When he arrived, a Ferrari race team was just finishing up its practice session but was fascinated enough by the noisy little truck to stick around and watch. One of the Ferrari team members offered to time the Ranchero, and after a couple of warmup laps Larry was clocking lap times in the 1-minute, 30-second range-which were the same times the Ferrari race team was turning that day. Not bad for a former lawn truck.

On his next outing Larry went out to run with the Shelby American Automobile Club at its national meet at California Speedway in Fontana, California. This time Larry expected to surprise a few drivers, and as an added poke in the ribs he had attached a lawnmower handle (complete with ripcord) to the rear downbars on the rollcage. "My favorite comment of the day," Larry tells us, "came from a guy in a blown 427 Cobra. He said he was annoyed enough that there was a Ranchero chasing him down, but that when I passed him and he saw the pushmower handle, well, that was just plain embarrassing."

The little Ranchero did a verified 170 mph down the front straight that day and handled the infield in perfect fashion, pissing off more than a few Cobra, Mustang, and GT owners along the way. Larry couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

But interest is capricious, and for reasons known only to him, Larry recently decided to move on to things that are propelled by the wind rather than combustion, so the keys to this little Ranchero have been passed into the eager hands of Rick Hamilton. Rick doesn't care for vehicles that aren't exciting to drive, as evidenced by a collection of toys that includes a low-production-number T-Bolt. Even he admits it's a bit of a learning curve to drive this Ranchero anywhere near its potential-but he assures us he's willing to put in the seat time to get it right.

Quick Inspection:'65 Ford Ranchero
Rick Hamilton . Tulare, CA

POWERTRAIN
Engine: The 358ci Ford Cosworth NASCAR engine uses a Ford SVO siamese-cylinder block, a Sonny Bryant crank, and Carrillo rods with CP pistons to create a 12.0:1 compression ratio. Ford Yates-style aluminum heads feature Jesel roller rockers pushing titanium 2.130 intake and 1.900 exhaust valves, titanium retainers, and locks. ARP head studs and hardware hold it all together. The Ford Motorsport valve covers have internal oil sprayers for valvespring longevity. The dry-sump pump and pan are Cosworth parts, and the pulleys, brackets, and fuel pump are all from CV Products (www.cvproducts.com). Up top is a Holley 4150 with drilled butterflies.

Power: The engine is capable of 825 hp at 8,800 rpm but is detuned to 710 hp in road course form.

Transmission: A Tremec T56 six-speed uses a McLeod Mag IV road racing clutch. Rearend: The Ford 9-inch is stuffed with 4.10:1 gears and Speedway floater axles.

CHASSIS
Frame: The original Ranchero unibody was braced and strengthened in key areas by Maeco Motorsport.

Suspension: Up front the Ranchero uses standard Shelby and Boss Mustang Trans-Am tricks including relocated and boxed control arms. Springs are Boss 302 race spec, and Koni adjustable shocks are on all four corners. A Global West steering box increases responsiveness. The rear is just as simple with heavy-duty leaf springs paired with a Panhard rod.

Brakes: Wilwood six-piston calipers are up front with four-pistons in the rear. Full-race brake pads put the squeeze on Coleman Engineering 12.125- and 11.75-inch curved-vane, stress-relieved, and gas-vented rotors.

Wheels: Custom 16×10 kidney-bean racing wheels are built by PS Engineering in Torrance, California (www.psewheels.com).

Tires: The Ranchero uses 25.0×12.0×16 Hoosier road race tires for the track and Hoosier P275/45ZR16s on the street.

STYLE
Body: Other than the obvious re-arching and flaring of the font and rear wheelwells, the Ranchero's body remains stock. The bumpers and 6-inch cowl hood are fiberglass pieces from Unlimited Products of Corona, California (www.up22.com). The aluminum bed sheeting and spoiler were done by Rick "The Tin Man" Nelson in Sylmar, California (818/367-5853).

Paint: Scott Guildner of Custom Painting (818/709-2139) sprayed the Dodge Viper blue and silver.

Interior: The dash fitted with Auto Meter carbon-fiber gauges is a custom piece by Scott Gregory of Maeco. The rollcage was bent up by Ross Murray from Exoticraft of Marina del Rey, California (310/821-7289). Black powdercoated aluminum Kirkey race seats and Simpson harnesses keep driver and passenger planted. A Safecraft Halon 1301 extinguishing system was installed with nozzles in the engine compartment, passenger compartment, and bed. A collapsible steering shaft with a removable steering wheel adds an extra measure of safety. The trans tunnel can be removed for access.

Photo Gallery: 1965 Ford Ranchero - Road Race Ranchero

The Bullitt Is Back
Now in its fourth year of production, the current S197/D2C Mustang is still pulling pretty fair sales numbers. That probably surprised the industry a little. For a model that deep into its product cycle, Ford has done a solid job maintaining consumer demand for its iconic fifth-generation ponycar-and a darn good job building the car too: The '08 Mustang recently topped the rankings in three J.D. Power surveys for initial quality, consumer appeal, and reliability. Ford's success with the Mustang no doubt played a part in inspiring GM and Chrysler to take one more run at the ponycar segment with the upcoming Camaro and Challenger.

To help maintain that momentum through the current product cycle, here comes Ford with a new addition to the Mustang lineup: the Bullitt, a model last seen in 2001 on the previous SN95 platform. Based, of course, on the customized '68 Mustang driven by Steve McQueen in the movie Bullitt, this new Mustang has "a look of quiet intensity" according to Ford-much like the actor himself, we suppose. While the new Bullitt does not come with a turtleneck sweater or a pair of cold blue contact lenses, it does manage to capture the flavor of the original movie Mustang. You can supply your own screen charisma.

Blacked-out grille with bright surround trim, check. Exterior badges and emblems shaved off, check. American Racing-styled 18-inch wheels with gray spokes and polished rims, check. Highland Green paint, check-though black is also available. (We thought red might be an option, too, since Ford had a bright-red Bullitt test mule running around on the streets of Dearborn. However, it turns out that was just a counterintelligence ploy to throw us off track.) Anyway, the new Bullitt shares all the familiar cues of the famous movie car, with just enough exterior decoration to let the hard-core Mustang crowd identify it: a Bullitt emblem on the rear deck panel and a pair of 3.5-inch exhaust tips. With no rear spoiler or GT badges on the front fenders, the average guy on the street might take the Bullitt for a standard V-6 Mustang.

But of course the Mustang cognoscenti will make no such mistake. They will key in on the special aluminum dash trim, scuff plates, shifter ball, and the Shelby GT500 side-bolster seats. Under the hood they'll be looking for the unique strut tower brace with serial plate sporting the car's Bullitt production number, and the cold-air induction assembly that Ford says is the first it's ever offered in a production Mustang.

The fresh-air kit is part of a unique calibration for the Bullitt's 4.6L V-8, which includes a dual-knock strategy that allows the engine to run on regular or premium fuel, while the redline has been increased 250 ticks to 6,500 rpm. With revised cam timing and exhaust system, the Bullitt is rated at 315 hp. However, it is the lower 3.73:1 axle ratio that really wakes up the Bullitt compared with the standard Mustang GT. And with the Tremec RT-3650 five-speed gearbox (sorry, no automatic available), the Bullitt's top speed is still a claimed 151 mph.

Ford invited HOT ROD to drive the new Bullitt though the streets of San Francisco, just as McQueen did in the movie, then down the California coast to Monterey. However, we were discouraged from performing Rallycross-style jumps and crashing into black Dodge Chargers. We enjoyed the trip anyway, thanks mainly to the Bullitt-specific spring and damper package that hit the Mustang's sweet spot for us. We were also glad to have the additional lateral support provided by the Shelby seat frames as we swerved our way through the tight and twisty parts. Movie tribute or not, the Bullitt is a smart bundle o features and calibrations in its own righ-arguably the best overall package yet in a normally aspirated Mustang. The price is nice, too at less than $31,000. But you might want to hurry, as Ford says production will be limited to 7,700 units. -Bill McGuire

Inside Ford's Future Boss Engine
A few months ago HOT ROD gave you the heads-up on Ford's new Boss engine scheduled for production in 2009. (Inside the OEs, Oct. '07) However, at that time all we had were a few choice facts and some photos of the engine's exterior. But now, thanks to our elaborate network of moles, spies, and dark operatives-your fellow HOT ROD readers, actually-here is the inside scoop on the Boss motor's insides.

Larger but similar in layout to the Ford Modular V-8, the Boss block is built on 4.54-inch bore centers, allowing significantly larger bore diameters than the current engine family. Naturally, that means larger displacements: 6.2 liters in its initial form with the capacity to go over 7.0 liters. The Boss engine is scheduled to debut in Ford's all-new F-150 truck line in 2009 and in the Mustang in 2010. -Bill McGuire

Driving The '08 Viper SRT10
What can you say about a car that comes straight out of the factory with 600 hp? Here's one expression that comes to mind: Quantity has a quality all its own. Joseph Stalin supposedly said it, but the saying must surely be older than that. How about this one: You can't ever have too much of a good thing. Hey, that's exactly how we feel about horsepower.

The Viper was hardly a subtle device in previous model years, but for 2008 Dodge has kicked things up another notch by raising the V-10's output another 90 hp. A displacement increase to 8.4 liters, new aluminum heads with CNC ports and combustion chambers, and a bump in compression ratio from 9.6:1 to 10.2:1 are mainly responsible for all this bounty. There's also a new exhaust system and a trick variable-timing camshaft. The final numbers are 600 hp at 6,100 rpm and 560 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm.

The more powerful engine has been stuffed into largely the same package as before: the third-gen Viper platform introduced in 2003. The gearbox is Tremec's latest six-speed, the TR6060, coupled to a twin-disc clutch. The previous Michelin run-flat tires have been abandoned in favor of Pilot Sports riding on new U-spoked forged aluminum wheels. The hood now features spiffy power slats, and there are five new exterior colors for 2008. So how is this latest Viper to drive? Well, to be honest it drives pretty much like the previous Viper, except now it has 600 hp. And that would be more, wouldn't it.

The Viper has always been an easy machine to criticize for those inclined to do so. Drive one every day for any real distance and it will start to wear on you, if not wear you out: The cabin is horribly cramped; the odd-fire V-10's engine note sounds like a tractor's much of the time; the chassis rides like a chain-drive Mack truck. So sure, the Viper is crude. Crude, but effective. The Viper is not a car for everyday use and has never pretended to be. But jump in on a Saturday afternoon and it will go, turn, and stop faster than all but a few cars in the world, and it will do so for less than 90 grand. Calling the Viper a bad car is like calling Roadhouse a bad movie: It totally misses the point. Don't be too clever to have a good time. The Viper is what it is, and now with 600 hp it still is. Still crude; still effective. -Bill McGuire

Photo Gallery: 2008 Ford Mustang - Inside The OEs - Hot Rod Magazine