KAR Motorsports’ 1,000hp 2015 Ford Mustang S550 Is a Carbon Fiber Knockout

A fringe contingent of car enthusiasts has always loved getting their hands dirty. Not dirt dirty—greasy dirty. Hanging-over-an-engine-bay dirty. Their cars looked unconventional and were usually loud and certainly abrasive. The civilians often witnessed these free-thinkers in speed contests. Miscreants for certain, criminals at least, therefore condemned and categorized unfairly. And anyone wanting to do that dirt thing must surely be suspect of other nefarious thoughts or deeds.

For those pioneers, a modified car was their passion above all else. To them, it wasn’t a hobby; it was the reason they got out of bed every morning. The sentiment became a groundswell. It’s what got drag racing off the street and smack in the public eye. Above all, these souls were rebels, individualists defined by their philosophy and actions but usually by the cars they modified and drove as hot rods. Only in America, folks. And in Chula Vista.

To a great many, it is still the reason they get out of bed every day and put their feet on the floor. But the landscape has changed. Social media websites have seen to that. Word spreads ferociously, accompanied by images that are immediate and undeniable. Such constant scrutiny is terminally influential, firing the desire to outdo the competition, driving them to take the next step out.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the S550 Mustang that Carlos Gomez shepherds. It sports equipment from a compilation of vendors that he uses at his KAR Motorsports in Chula Vista, California. Gomez got the S550’s gears turning at Fuller Ford (Chula Vista). He wanted to make it as much a looker as a tough-as-nails stomper, so he spent time on the fastback’s ability to make a lasting impression. Without disturbing an ounce of sheetmetal, KAR transformed the looks with graphics, outsized fender flairs, carbon fiber sheets, wide-wide 20-inch rollers, and distinctive front- and rearend treatments. Um, yeah, that paint isn’t exactly a shrinking violet, either.

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