Modified Mustangs & Fords magazine sponsors a number of awards for local car shows such as National Parts Depot's Mustang Roundup in Silver Springs, and the Mustangs & Mustangs show at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida. The latter is where we awarded Roger Gagnon of Timmins, Ontario, Canada, with our Best Restomod award during the 15th annual staging of the event. Some time ago, Roger decided he wanted a classic Mustang, and the owner of a local scrapyard heard of Roger's interest. Louis Todorovich had a '67 fastback tucked away in his stash of classics, and called Roger up to see if he was interested in buying it.
"We made a deal," says Roger, "he would build the car and I would look after getting the parts since I owned a parts store." Unfortunately, shortly after the deal went down, Louis died of a heart attack. Roger, not knowing what to do next, decided to store his fastback in his garage for the time being.After some time, Roger met a customer who offered to take on the project, but on the condition that Roger find another car to start with. Apparently, there wasn't much that was deemed salvageable on the old fastback, so Roger purchased a '68 coupe from Arizona and the duo decided to combine the two cars into one clean fastback.
Craig Lapierre, the customer/builder, had performed this surgery a number of times before. This is quite an accomplishment, given that he has a full-time job as a miner and does restoration work out of his backyard shop after hours. As the build progressed, Roger and Craig became good friends, and Roger learned a great deal about working on cars.
The build took three years to complete, and the Calypso Coral paint is what caught our eye at the show. The immaculate interior and engine compartment sealed the deal for us.
Roger Gagnon's '67 Shelby G.T. 350 clone
- Ford Racing M-6007-C392FT small-block crate engin
- 392ci
- Forged steel crankshaft
- Ford Racing Z304 aluminum cylinder heads, 2.02-inch intake and 1.60-inch exhaust valves
- Ford Racing hydraulic roler camshaft, 0.580-inch lift intake/0.602-inch lift exhaust, duration at 0.050 is 232 degrees intake/240 degrees exhaust
- Mass-Flo electronic fuel injection
- MSD billet distributor and ignition
- 10:1 compression ratio
- 475 hp/494 lb-ft of torque
- Hooker Headers 1-3/4-inch primary, 3-inch collector long-tube headers
- Stainless 2-1/2-inch exhaust
- Flowmaster Super 40 mufflers
- Richmond six-speed manual
- Long Engineering shifter
- Centerforce clutch
- Currie 9-inch
- Traction-Lok differential
- 3.50 gears
- Front: RRS disc, two-piston calipers
- Rear: Currie disc, single-piston caliper
- Front: Vintage Wheel Works V60, 17x8, 4.5-inch backspacing
- Rear: Vintage Wheel Works V60, 17x8, 4.5-inch backspacing
- Front: Dunlop Direzza, P225/45ZR17
- Rear: Dunlop Direzza, P245/45ZR17
- Front: RRS coilovers
- Rear: Factory replacement leaf springs and shocks
- Deluxe interior with Parchment White replacement upholstery, ACC carpet, Moto-lita Cobra steering wheel, JME instruments and bezel, power windows, Shelby rollbar
- RM Calypso Coral basecoat/clearcoat by Craig Lapierre; Shelby hood, trunk lid, and front fascia from Tony D. Branda