Steve Francis' 1982 Mustang GT - IMSA GTO Race Car Click to see a bigger photo.

1982 GT Hatchback - Motorcraft/Firestone FPR IMSA GTO Race Car

Factory Colors:

• Exterior - Red

Factory Engine:

• Bud Moore 1970 T/A spec Boss 302 

Notable History:

This car has some very notable history as the #02 Firestone HPR Mustang team race car, one of two tube chassis cars built by Protofab for FoMoCo to run endurance races in IMSA GT for the 1982-1983 race seasons.  This car was driven by John Bauer and Milt Minter and was funded by FoMoCo and Firestone to promote the HPR tire.  It was recently purchased (December 2005) by the current owner and had previously been in storage since 1984 (was owned by the same original team owner all these years).  The car is still in its original paint and livery from the 1983 season and came with some spares including two Bud Moore built Boss 302 dry deck dry sump engines (one 1983-era fresh and the other with only one race on it), two T-10 transmissions and several 'N' case differentials.  According to the new owner, the tube chassis is a "work of art" and very well built; all TIG welded with Gary Pratt's signature all over the car.  While it will need a full restoration and a few small missing items replaced, it has obviously held up very well over the years. 

 

This car (along with its #01 sister Mustang team car) ran in numerous races during 1982-1983 and won a 6 hour endurance race in Fuji, Japan in 1982.  The sister #01 car was sold years ago and currently has a newer, updated Roush Mustang body on it. The #01 car was blue for 1982 and red for 1983. When you look at photos of both cars, one has two clips at the top of windshield (the #02 car) and the other car (the #01 car) has 3 clips at the windshield top area.  The #02 car received quite a bit of press back in the early 1980's - appearing on the cover of the February 22, 1982 Autoweek magazine (along with an article), in a Koni shocks advertisement, on a "Mustang GT Enduro" poster, etc.

 

These cars definitely helped to expose the 1982 Mustang GT to the general public and helped generate sales of the Mustang GT at the dealer showrooms.  

 

Stay tuned for more info and photos in an upcoming article on these cars...