Whether you know it as GM176 or S1CKO, the Myers family’s 1966 Mustang is undeniably one of the most famed, and longest competing, professional burnout cars of all time. With four Summernats Burnout Championships and now four Burnout Masters titles to its name, the coupe’s rich tyre-frying heritage dates back to the first-ever Summernats and beyond.

First published in Street Machine’s Summer Special 2023

GM176’s rise to infamy began in 1982, when Gary was a 17-year-old apprentice mechanic. “My old man bought it out of the Sydney Morning Herald,” Jake says. “He was originally going down to buy a ‘66 Mercury Cougar, but when he arrived it was sold, so the next best thing was a ‘66 Mustang.” The apprentice mechanic bolted up five-slot GT wheels, stuck with the black duco and 302 Windsor, and started racking up countless wins on the emerging burnout scene.

The first of four Burnout Championship victories came in 1993, capped off with the World Burnout Champion gong in 2000. Street Machine of the Year 2001 and two Street Machine covers followed (Jan and Dec ’01), showcasing the car’s iconic flamed guise.

Gary also won the inaugural Burnout Masters gig in 2004, coming back for another win in 2011. GM176 even hit the Lake Gairdner salt in 2001, and still retains a D/BGC class record of 170.003mph.

Add that to Gary’s two other SMOTY efforts (The Hemi-powered Silver Bullet Mustang and the AGROXA Falcon coupe), and you’ve got a major list of accolades. “Many, many trophies, too many to mention” Gary adds.

Jake’s only 26, but he’s now been competing in the Mustang for ten years. It’s seen a heap of external makeovers (see more below) over the last decade, evolving as Jake built his own burnout identity under the S1CKO name.

He became the youngest person to win a Masters title in 2019, going on to win two Northern Nats 15k Championships in a row and Rockynats Burnout Masters in 2022. Jake runs his own vinyl wrap business, which has come in handy to change up the car without sacrificing the decades of history that lie underneath.

Despite the regular colour swaps, the heart of the Mustang has always been a 302-cube Windsor assembled by Gary. Both generations are mad for the small-block, to the point where even Jake’s red heeler bears the Windsor name.

A World Products Man O’War block forms the basis for the car’s screaming mill, housing an Oliver crank and I-beam rods hooked to CP pistons RHS heads fill out the top end, force-fed by a Littlefield 6/71 Teflon blower bolted to a custom billet two-piece manifold. The Condor injector hat features a billet three-door butterfly housing of Jake’s own design, and methanol is supplied to the mechanical injection set-up via a Magnafuel delivery pump and Enderle 110 mechanical feed pump. All in all, it’s making 750hp at the wheels.

Adam at ATS Automatics assembled the Powerglide, which is bolted to a TCE converter and bellhousing. It turns a bulletproof Strange nine-inch that’s been in service under the Mustang since the 90s, packing 3.9 gears and Moser 31-spline axles.

It’s a pretty stout driveline, but a chunk of ring gear punching through the floor at Brashernats 2022 forced an overhaul. “We were planning to do the rebuild at the end of the season, because normally after Red CentreNATS we have no other competitions,” Jake says. “The ring gear came off at Brashernats so that kind of pushed along our rebuild. It helped us along a lot, because there were a lot of things we had to do.”

With Summernats’s 35th anniversary on the horizon, Jake saw the perfect chance to honour the car’s original form. “35 years ago the car looked identical to this, minus the motor,” he points out.

The Mustang spent three months at the paint shop copping a fresh lick of gloss black on the rear quarters, before Jake applied 3M metallic black vinyl over the whole lot. Under certain light, the legendary flame job is visible under the wrap. “When dad retired we wrapped it in a graphic design,” Jake recounts. “Back then we got it resprayed and had the flames airbrushed again, but we ran out of time to clear coat it and block it back, so when we wrapped it we weren’t sure how much they’d be visible.

With that graphic design, the guy who did it included the flames in the graphic, but when I went to the orange wrap you could see the flames underneath. We kind of went ‘aah,’ but it was pretty cool because people would pick it up and think ‘gosh, that’s the original GM176.’”

A trip to Melbourne yielded more key parts of the puzzle. “We went to East Coast Mustangs with a massive list of stuff, and grabbed all the badges, windscreen wipers, new door handles, taillight lenses; pretty much a full refresh on everything on the car. It was a bit of a costly exercise but it paid off in the end!”

A Proflow billet flywheel also got the nod, while the Crow solid-roller bumpstick was refreshed and an RTS transmission overflow tank fitted. “It’s ready for the next couple of seasons now,” Jake grins.

The newly re-minted S1CKO/GM176 hybrid earned a huge reception at ‘Nats 35, especially when Gary came out of retirement to open the burnout pad. “People were saying it’s the best thing we’ve done with the car,” Jake enthuses. “An old bloke even brought up a picture he took in 1989 of the Mustang parked up between the dyno cell and the exhibition hall.”

With one Masters win already under the belt, Jake says he wasn’t as nervous as some. “I told myself I didn’t really have anything to lose,” he explains. “There’s other people there that haven’t won a Masters, and I felt that if I can do it once, I can do it twice.” He ticked every box over the weekend, coming away with his second Masters win to cap off fairytale Summernats.

“It’s funny, I brought the car out in 2019 with that brand new wrap and won the Masters, and now I’ve just brought it out with the brand new black wrap and won again,” he laughs. “I might have to wrap it again for next year!”

Jake has played a huge role in the rebuild, too. “I’m no engine builder, but I do the maintenance and help out as much as I can, taking stuff apart and putting it back together. A lot of people think I just jump in and drive it, but there’s a lot behind the scenes.”

Burnout pad aside, keep an eye out for the Mustang at MotorEx, and maybe even on the street. “We want to do the Easter Hot Rod Run here in Narrandera, so we’re going to put a smaller hat on it that’s more street-legal, and a full exhaust system so it’s not as much of a cop magnet,” Jake says. “It’s pretty cool here in Narrandera; there’s a lot of blown cars and if you behave yourself you won’t get in trouble.”

The Myers boys plan to take the idea theme even further in the longer term, once Jake’s next burnout car is unveiled. “We’ll put the Mustang in the shed for 12 months, then we’ll start parting together a motor,” Jake explains.

Gary will screw together a 351 Windsor, all tucked under-bonnet with ProCharger induction, allowing the Mustang to properly return to the street for the first time in 35 years. “It’ll still have enough power to do some powerskids and do some events,” Jake says. “Sometimes all good things have to come to an end. It’s done its time, so now we’ll give it a rest, but we’re still looking at 800hp!”

S1CKO/GM176 TIMELINE

The Myers Mustang has seen plenty of forms as both GM176 and S1CKO, so here’s a quick guide to what happened, and when.

Black

Gary campaigned the car at two Street Machine Nationals events with a tunnel-rammed Windsor, before going blown for Summernats 1 with a twin carb arrangement. Its first SM feature appeared in the June ’89 issue

Black with flames

Easily GM176’s most iconic guise, the Dwayne Baugus-sprayed flames appeared in the 90s, helping propel it to Street Machine of the Year 2001 and an unheard-of two SM covers. “I remember dad pretty much winning everything with it when it was black with flames,” Jake says

Vinyl wrap with flames and graphics

Jake took up the mantle in 2013, dubbing the car S1CKO and applying a wild vinyl wrap topped with flames

Orange vinyl

This shorter-lived wrap stepped away from the GM176 style with its big chrome hoops, but the flame outline still shone through

Gloss Anthracite metallic

Jake earned his first Burnout Masters title in 2019 with the more restrained look in a hint of what was to come

Black vinyl

GM176 made a triumphant return at this year’s ‘Nats, with Jake again taking the Masters title. “A lot of the older generation remember it being all black, but some people think it’s a new car,” he laughs. “They get a bit confused!”

JAKE & GARY MYERS
1966 FORD MUSTANG

THANKS

“A big thanks to all my sponsors, and my old man especially, for screwing together one of the strongest 302 Windsors in the game; 35 years strong! A very big thanks to my family, my friends, my mum, and my partner and biggest fan Amy. A special thanks to Andrew and Hayden for all the help and Batkin & Damme Smash Repairs for fixing up the rear quarters for the revamp for this Summernats 35. VP Racing Fuels; Tempe Tyres; Nulon; Proflow; VPW Australia; Ingrams Automotive; Crow Cams Australia; Yella Terra; Showtime Customs & Fabrication; Fatal Finish Detailing; TCE; Grimm Industries; Blown Motorsports;
Pacemaker Headers; Aussie Desert Cooler; Lovells Springs; Meguiars; Colour X; Myers Vinyl Wraps; Picnik Media