Rob M.’s Type 65 Coupe
Before purchasing his Factory Five Type 65 Coupe, Rob M. was involved in supercar racing with friends. When he started looking for what would end up being his Type 65 Coupe, one of his racing buddies said he knew of someone who had one sitting at his machine shop.
Rob told us, “the owner wanted to modify it and put a mid-engine in it. Instead, I bought the car! It’s a Gen 2. It has Halibrands, and I used an IRS from a 90’s Thunderbird.
I modeled the car after CSX 2299 because I’ve always been a fan. It has the same decals as the car that won Sebring in ’65.
It has a 347 stroker motor and 450 lbs of torque.
Allan Burnett did magic with the body work and paint in Winnsboro, Texas. Then my friend Mitch helped with the build. We took our time and left the aluminum natural because we like the look. We also put low-back seats in. Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant were still alive at the time, and they signed the dash! I’ve gotten to know Pete Brock through a Panamera Mustang we built, and I still speak with him periodically. He also signed the car.
We had a switch panel hand-lettered and misspelled like on one of the originals, and were able to find original military surplus, heavy-duty switches.
I drive it for fun, and to race days. It’s a fun car and even though we bought it second-hand, we have been really pleased with the product. Factory Five is the reason we could own this car, and the people we’ve met and spoken with have been great and helpful along the way.
