Joe Ruggirello 81 Mustang

[old5.0]

Ruggirello's silver Mustang II is pretty well known (pretty sure the current owner posts here occasionally) but I'm interested in the car he built next. It was a dark blue 81 hatch bought new by Joe and like the II it was screwed together by Roush. It was equipped with a 395" Cleveland based on what had to have been one of the first Motorsport A4 blocks and was reputed to be even quicked than the 460-motivated Mustang II.

Anyone know anything more about this car? Original equipment as delivered from Roush (what cam, heads, etc.)? Current whereabouts? Anything?

[Dave Rifkin]

I know nothing about the 81 hatch you referred to but, I have seen pictures of the Mustang II after it's restoration. The person who owns it did an amazing job of bringing it back to life.
I would be interested in seeing anything about the 81; wasn't aware of that car.

[PeteLeathersac]

'

BIN Mag on eBoy...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HOT-ROD-1983-OCT-PRO-St-Spcl-BUTTERA-ROD-FISHEL-/382306697559

:beers:
~ Pete

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[JRC99]

I've heard of this car too, and really want to know what it looks like.

[markjohnson]

Man, I had totally forgotten that Ruggirello had Jack Roush build a sequel car to Sudden Death! I had to go digging to find it but here it is and now I remember it mostly because of the big n' little TRX wheels. BTW, anybody that doesn't know the full story on those crazy metric-sized Ford wheels, it's worth a Google search and we'll just leave it at that because they certainly weren't one of Ford's better ideas. The 395-inch Cleveland in this car also had those crazy-cool Ford Motorsports valve covers that serve double duty as stud girdles utilizing very long rocker studs & acorn nuts. Love that idea! Talk about a car that was ahead of its time, this car pre-dated a whole lotta fast Fox-body street racers and it would be cool to know if it's still around.

[markjohnson]

Pg2

[markjohnson]

Pg3

[markjohnson]

Pg4

[JRC99]

Thank you for posting these! Finally, my curiosity is satisfied!