MUSTANG MAN

This month sees another new project join the Fast Fleet; snapper Jason Dodd and his mighty Mustang V8…

QUICK SPEC 5.0-litre Mustang GT ■ Magnetic Grey ■ Ceramic leather ■ Steeda axle-back exhaust

So, who is this Jason bloke, then? Well, I’ve been a professional photographer for 14 years now, covering automotive and commercial work across the UK and Europe, including a fair few bits for Fast Ford. I’m not new to the Ford scene myself, either, as when I left my previous job in the motor trade my first purchase was a 2001 Puma 1.7; a small packaged coupé that delivered bags of fun as a daily driver. I’ve now stepped in to another coupé, but this time on a much bigger scale… a Mustang GT, and yes it does have the 5.0-litre V8!

Being a photographer with the magazine gives me a great access to the Mustang fraternity, and with the right-hand-drive

option now in its 4th year in Europe, the car has a very strong following in the UK – and the various owners clubs make it easier to see how people have made these cars so individual.

I’ve had loads of hot hatches in between the Puma and Mustang; Type R, Megane RS250, fast Beemers, and a 3.0-litre supercharged Jag. But the Mustang has always been my dream car. I did drive a ’67 fastback on a shoot a few years back, and although it felt all floaty and not much fun, the more I drove it the more I fell in love with its character.

So, when Ford decided to do a proper UK-spec right-hand-drive version of the Mustang it made the car a genuine option – although a 5.0-litre daily driver wasn’t ever going to be a viable proposition. Just over a year ago, I was covering some work for Haynes Ford in Maidstone, with the new 2019 model looming there were some crazy deals offered for the older models so they could clear the showrooms in time for the new car to go on sale – 0% finance, free Steeda exhaust upgrade, as well as a few other goodies thrown in to further sweeten the deal. It was all too tempting… so here is my Magnetic Grey GT with ceramic leather.

I’m looking forward to sharing with you the upgrades I have in store for the car as well as some road trips and events I’ll be covering for the magazine. To start things off it’ll just be simple but effective mods such as a Steeda cold air intake, some light exterior mods and making the already throaty Steeda axle-back exhaust sound even angrier. I’ll let you know how I got on in the next issue…