Wild Horses 1970 Mustang 302 Cleveland Fastback racing an Agusta Westland Helicopter

“Wild Horses, will ride them someday” said a sad Rolling Stones song…yet nothing turns truer when you come across a vintage, pre oil crisis Mustang Fastback. These things were made to run fast and never look back. Pony cars, the cars for the young and successful people in America, were Ford Mustangs: they were designed to be cool and still cool they are.
Like the Porsche did with the 911, created an icon and then made more icons out of it with the Targa, Turbo and GT3 as years went by, Ford was able to make the Mustangs the most famous car after the Model T…maybe even more famous, thanks to Need for Speed and other virtual outlets. Shelby, Fastback, Notchback, Boss, Herz are all icons of an era that will never ever come back.
Besides, it’s one of those cars that are the real definition of the word “badassery”. As a young kid, my dream car was the 1968 Fastback, and I loved it in any color. The rumble, the presence, the looks…there have been days when no Ferrari was cooler than a Mustang for me. Time changes but true love never does: it is still the coolest car on the planet even if my legitimate affairs with other cars may induce me to say otherwise.
While everyone craves for the hotter ones, namely those bearing the names “Shelby” and “Boss”, enthusiasts still love the humbler Windsor enginend and the performance Cobra Jet 428s and 2 barrell 302 “non-Boss” ‘Stangs. Still one of the hottest regular production Ponies, the Cleveland small block 5 liter V8 was only a step away from the legendary 4 barrell 290 horses Boss power unit, the one that helped Ford win the 1970 Trans Am championship. 250 hp, splitters, wings and a three speed automatic was the recipe that granted an entry to the magical world of performance according to Ford: all 302’s were real screamers. American cars need straights and the Cleveland 302 was no match for the tight turns of the hills of Veneto: since Italy is no home of no drag strips, we went to the only place where we could have long, empty strings of tarmac: an airport.
250 horses ain’t much today but the wall of torque of a good old V8 is magnificent: select drive and hit the gas. So much fun!
As a showcase of general hooliganism, an Agusta Westland AW 109 SP helicopter joined us for some added madness. Speed runs with the helicopter at our right and the burble of the V8 at our back were epic and were just a great showcase of great things, all put together in one single package.

Special thanks to our Friends www.topmarques.it