Adam and Angie Kruger’s 1967 Mustang earned top honours at Rockynats 04 over the Easter long weekend, with Adam driving the wheels off the car to take Grand Champion.

“I drove the arse out of it,” Adam enthuses. “I wanted to show everyone that it drives and I wanted to put the car through its paces,” Adam says. 

He did it the hard way, too, as the Mustang was suffering from overheating issues on the road to the motorkhana. “There’s so many bloody lights in Rocky, and it was overheating on the drive across to [the motorkhana],” he says. “So, I had to stop and buy some water, and I was tipping it all over the car. Then I split my eyebrow on the quarter glass getting back in the thing, so I was dripping blood everywhere – it was a mess!”

Adam’s perseverance paid off, the Muzzy beating all comers by the end of the ordeal. “It’s a great feeling, and despite the overheating issue it drove great otherwise,” he says. “The event is great for testing out a car like that, with the racing and the drives in-between.”

The Grand Champion win adds to a decent haul of trophies the Mustang has garnered since its unveiling at Street Machine Summernats 34, where it scored Top Coupe and third in Top Bodywork. It appeared in the Top 20 again at the following year’s ’Nats, and shone at MotorEx. 

The Mustang was built over a five-year period, with Andy McConnell from Fireball Custom Fabrication taking on a fair chunk of the work. “I can’t thank him enough for what he did, and Dave Elliot as well from Blacklist for helping me do the paintwork,” Adam says.

The car was originally envisioned by Ziggy Sadler, with Angie adding her own twists with tweaks to the design. “She designed most of the interior, so she had a big hand in areas like that,” Adam explains. Body mods on the Mustang are extensive, including a recessed windscreen, extended sills, stretched bonnet and guards and a handmade rear end.

Under the skin is a small-block Ford swinging a huge 460ci for 595hp, with a C4 ’box on the end. The diff is a full floater nine-inch, and underneath the 20×7 and 22×10 Billet Specialties is a whopping set of 10-piston (front) and six-piston (rear) brakes.

“I might redo the underside and take it to a few more shows, but I also really enjoy driving it, so we’ll see where we go with it from here,” Adam says. “Either way it’s fantastic to get the Grand Champ – all that hard work paying off!”