This Classic Ford Mustang Is Hiding A BMW V8 Heart

Hey, you. You’re a car enthusiast, right? So you know what you’re looking at here. It’s a classic first-generation Ford Mustang, specifically a 1968 model with the pretty fastback body. It’s doubtless got some whacking great V8 under its long, American bonnet.

Well, yes. Just not the one you’re thinking of, because this particular Mustang is powered by the stonking V8 from an E92-shape BMW M3. Or rather, it’s an E92 M3 that’s been made to look like a 1968 Mustang. We’re not entirely clear.

Showcased by the Cars.co.za YouTube channel, which has previously shown off other incredible builds to come out of South Africa’s wild car scene like a twin-turbo Hemi-swapped VW Amarok and a homebuilt triple-rotor Mazda RX-8 ‘Bakkie’, the origins of this car – and even what it began life as – are unclear.

The engine is something we know about. The S65 V8 was a snorting 4.0-litre, naturally aspirated unit making 414bhp and developed specifically for the fourth-generation M3 – the only mass-produced version of BMW’s spiced-up 3-series to use eight cylinders.

So that unit, along with its six-speed manual gearbox, have just been dropped wholesale into a ’68 Mustang, right? Well, maybe not. Look inside, and while the upper half of the interior is all classic ‘Stang, the lower half, including the transmission tunnel, centre console and gear knob, is all from the M3.

It’s hinted that this is more of an M3 that’s been extensively re-engineered and rebodied to resemble a Mustang, rather than a Mustang that’s had an M3 powertrain plonked in it. The dealer selling it apparently doesn’t know much more, having acquired the car as part of a deal.

That’s beside the point, though, because this thing looks like a riot. The distinctly American, burbly soundtrack you expect from an old Mustang is gone in place of the rev-happy shriek of the German V8, which tops out at 8300rpm. It also appears to handle with much more M car precision than classic muscle car boatiness.

As presenter Jacob Moshokoa points out, this Franken-car is likely to rile up both Mustang people and M3 people, but we say let them be offended. The automotive world is a brighter, more interesting place with stuff like this in it.