COYOTE COUPE

This 1967 Mustang Is the Perfect Blueprint for an Engine Swap

-  Eric English

To hear owner Byron Tudor tell it, he hasn’t traditionally been a Mustang sort of guy. In that regard he resembles a multitude of car enthusiasts who, whether they love it or hate it, have simply never owned an example of Ford’s legendary pony car. Nevertheless, credit Byron for capitalizing on a good thing when it came his way.

The good thing we speak of is the 1967 coupe that was given to Byron by his girlfriend’s sister, Holly. Holly had driven the plain white coupe for a number of years before parking it in the late ’90s due to its declining condition and concerns regarding reliability. After having it sit in her garage for nearly 20 years and concluding she was unlikely to get it back on the road, Holly offered it to Byron—free of charge. It was important to Holly that her Mustang go to a good home.

Obviously Byron was happy to have the solid but tired 1967 dropped in his lap, but what to do with it? Coincidentally, Byron had known Craig Wick for a few years; the two were involved in go-kart racing in the Pacific Northwest. Craig is the owner of Wicked Fabrication in Auburn, Washington, one of the area’s premier builders of custom and modified cars. Before long, Byron’s vision for his dream car was beyond his personal abilities, but with business booming in the aircraft industry, he did have the opportunity to work massive amounts of overtime in order to fund a professional build, so he turned the car over to Craig and his team.