Customer Rich C.’s Race Coupe
Customer Rich C. shared these awesome track photos showing off his unique Factory Five Type 65 Coupe R build. He recently completed his build, and has been hitting the track! Rich says, “My wife, Kristen, and I race vintage cars together. She races a ’65 Mustang. We run a combination of autocross, track cross, and occasionally time attack style road racing.
I saw an ad for a FFR Coupe in the early 2000s and fell in love with the shape before I ever knew its roots. At multiple points in my life I considered building one. Finally, in late 2021 I pulled the trigger on a kit with intentions of building something that could compete at the “next level” in our vintage events.
When I ordered my kit there was a ten month lead time on kit orders, and I used that time to build my own engine and rear end. I built both for track use and (hopefully!) durability, as the goal for my build was much more focused on track car than street car.
My Coupe-R kit arrived in September of 2022 and I had it ready to race by late March of 2023. We have two young children so this was essentially built between when the kids went to bed and when I went to bed over a 7 month period. It was in go kart stage by early January and I broke in and tuned the engine at a local dragstrip, Dragway 42. I am in Ohio, so running a go kart up to 120 mph to seat rings under load was a cold adventure! Dragway 42 opened the gates just for me that day, and that was my first experience driving the car, one I’ll never forget.
From the go kart phase to completion was a bunch of body and paint work. I painted it in my attached garage. The black and white stripes are all vinyl that I put down a month after paint. The underside of the body and nose is coated in truck bed liner.
I was hustling to complete the kit because Kenda Tire, who’s engineering tech center is local to our home town, had developed a new 200 tread wear autocross tire and this car was slated to help promote the tire launch. It all worked out, and my car wore the first production set of 315/30R18 UHP Max tires produced!
Some unique build details are as follows:
-Coupe-R with 3 link rear end
-427 ci SBF using a Dart SHP block, Trick Flow 205 11R heads, custom Wiseco pistons at 12.5:1 compression, and an internally balanced forged crank. It runs on E85 and uses a Holley Stealth Terminator X fuel injection system.
-Tremec TKX600 with Silver Sport Transmission mid shift conversion
-Full aero package from FFR with a Nine Lives Racing dual element aluminum wing wrapped in simulated carbon fiber vinyl wrap with custom end plates
-8.8 rear end using a Foxbody housing, 31 Spline Strange axles, and a TrueTrac diff
-13″ brakes front and rear using Brembo calipers from a Cadillac ATS up front and Brembo calipers from a 6th gen Camaro in the rear. Both front and rear brakes use 94-04 Cobra front rotors.
-Custom valved double adjustable monotube Bilstein AS2 shocks
-Breeze 3 link lower control arms
-Ford Vermilion red (early 90s Ford bright red color) covered in Brain Dead “Dead Flat” clear coat
-18×10.5″ Rovos brand wheels wrapped in Kenda Vezda UHP Max 315/30R18 tires at all for corners
– Suede covered dash with carbon fiber simulated vinyl wrap accents thoughout the interior
-Fire suppression system with two nozzles in the engine bay and one nozzle in each footwell
-Modified driver’s side footbox for additional width and pedal spacing
-Custom offset and dropped steering column mount for better wheel and seat positions
-Ford Racing steering wheel and Ididit quick release hub
Photos by Justin Raynak at Shades Media
