The Law

The story of the “Lawman”, and the Lawman Mustang program, actually began in the early 1960’s way before Ford ever got involved.

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The man who is certainly credited with being the main force behind this program was the successful drag racer Al Eckstrand. As the story goes, Al was an avid drag racer and at the same time a corporate lawyer at Chrysler... and because of his legal background this became the basis for his name as the “Lawman” on his cars and the drag strip he visited. But as much as he enjoyed his day job, his true passion was on the weekends as a drag racer, where he did remarkably well in NHRA holding several records at the time in his class. At the 1963 NHRA Nationals his car was the first to get under a 12 second ¼ mile. His success and background led him to a partnership with Chrysler as he campaigned a Hemi Charger and big block Barracuda through the later part of the 1960’s. In 1966, with the help of Chrysler, Al formed the American Commando Drag Team and worked to bring the sport to Europe to the famous Santa Pod Raceway in England. This drag racing venue opened on Easter 1966 and was the first permanent ¼ and 1/8 mile drag strip in Europe. The following year this expanded to Sweden and then continued drag racing in Europe in 1968 and 1969. Muscle cars and racing were in full demand at this time and a way to sell and promote the cars.