This Kawasaki Green Fox Mustang Made a Drag-and-Drive Rookie Jump into a New Build
In the search to improve performance and appearance of our vehicles, there can be ‘tipping points’ where returning them to original can be hard, or in some cases, impossible.
When Michael Lennarson got to his tipping point with a clean Mustang Cobra, he knew an alternative plan needed to happen. The search for a blank canvas started, and despite one speed bump, Michael ended up with this 1987 Ford Mustang.
“I have a 2004 Mustang Cobra that was going to be my original project,” Michael said. “But I didn’t want to hack up a low mile clean car.” That set him on a mission for a car to build from scratch, but finding just the right one took a little while.
“Green has always been my favorite color aside from black,” Michael admitted. “I had been searching hard for a car with an 8.50-certified cage, and ended up buying a buddy’s clean Mustang hatch instead.
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The green notch popped up partially through the hatch build, and I took a chance off some crappy photos to drive to Indiana with an empty trailer hoping the paint was good.”
The notch was just a shell sporting a fresh paint job in Kawasaki-spec green, but Michael decided to make the deal. Then he transferred everything over from the hatch, and focused the build on the notch instead.
Doing all the work in his home garage over a three-year period, Michael got to know basically every nut and bolt on the car.
To get the notch rolling down the street and the track with some quickness, Michael opted for the popular LS-swap based on a 5.3-liter with a single Forced Induction S485 turbocharger making the whooshing noises.
A Turbo 400 3-speed transmission gets the power back to the rear tires, and a Holley EFI system keeps watch over everything.
Mini-tubs allowed Michael to get the tire tucked in a little more, giving the Mustang the right stance.
The LS got its first signs of oil pressure in late 2020, and Michael wasted no time getting to enjoy the Mustang.
“I’ve done everything from no prep events to countless test and tune days,” Michael said. “Since I’ve never had the car at any shop, I’ve had to spend a lot of time fine tuning things and learning.
It’s had many ups and downs, but I’m very proud of what I’ve built, and always open to learning more.”
As many a car enthusiast will admit, friend influence can be a powerful thing, and fellow Mustang owner Mike Pryka dangled some influence over Michael to make the call to participate in Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes.
“I’m good friends with Pryka, and he has photo’d and participated in many different drag-and-drive events,” Michael admitted. “He always told me I should do one, as I love the aspect of a street car. Sick Summer was the first one semi-local, and it was a no brainer to enter.”
Michael, who recently got married and included the Mustang in the ceremony, hope his engineering background will help him complete his first drag-and-drive without issue.
“Keeping the car cool, reliable temps and not leaning on it too hard hopefully will keep it in the event till the last day,” Michael said.
His other not-so secret to success will be his co-pilot. “My buddy PJ is going to be my co-pilot for the event for many reasons,” Michael stated.
“He’s always been my voice of reason, and also has an engineering background, but in a different area so he always brings different perspective to some of my ideas.
He’s assisted in some fabrication work for me, and should do well keeping me level headed during the event. At the end of the day, I want the car to survive and us to have fun.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Michael Lennarson and Mike Pryka / Motion Raceworks.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com