Ringbrothers unveils 'Kingpin' Mustang Mach 1
800hp in a new Mustang is pretty cool - but 800hp in a '69 Mach 1 is off the chain...
Another show, another show-stopping Ringbrothers build. While there have been some interesting cars in Las Vegas over the past few days (that Land Cruiser perhaps most notably), there’s no way to crown a car of SEMA before the Ringbrothers are in town. This is its latest creation, a 1969 Mustang Mach 1 now known as Kingpin. It has been built for a customer who was “adamant about creating a sinister aesthetic”, according to Jim Ring. We’d say that objective has been achieved. “We asked ourselves, ‘What would the final boss in a John Wick film drive?’ This was the result”, he added.
Now Kingpin wouldn’t be a Ringbrothers build without some prodigious power under the hood, and this time around that comes courtesy of a supercharged 5.0-litre Coyote V8; built by Wegner Motorsport and with a Whipple ‘charger, more than 800hp is claimed. So it’s basically a ‘60s GTD, only here there’s a six-speed manual. Custom headers built in-house by Ringbrothers and a Flowmaster exhaust should bring the V8 thunder.
Anyone who has paid attention to previous Ringbrothers builds, however, will know that its projects are about far more than just big power and noise in old cars (even if that’s a big part of the appeal). Typically, the chassis gets a total transformation also, and that’s most certainly the case here. Like the recent Octavia Aston Martin build, Kingpin is significantly broader than the donor car, 5cm wider up front and almost nine at the rear, underpinned by a Roadster Shop chassis that Ringbrothers converted back into a unibody; the new architecture brings additional centimetres in the wheelbase, too, to really emphasise the moodiness of a long, low, wide muscle car. At first sight, it looks like just another nicely modified classic Mustang; then, as with every Ringbrothers build, there’s more and more to appreciate the longer you gawk.
Suspension is now independent front and rear (told you it was basically an old-school GTD) to ‘keep the Mach 1 glued to the tarmac’, with stopping handled by Brembo brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres. The wheels, complete with that rude rear dish, are Vintage Series 517s from HRE.
Obviously, a car called Kingpin that was designed to look like something from a John Wick movie had to be black; specifically, this Mustang is BASF’s Bootleg Black, with accents in Grab-Her Green ‘to highlight the car’s villainous undertones.’ Just a reminder that Ford has offered Grabber Green on the Mustang palette - it’s a play on words, before anyone gets too concerned…
There are custom carbon features throughout Kingpin, too, which aren’t the easiest to spot but will help explain where the thousands of hours are spent on a Ringbrothers build. Essentially, the entire back end of this car (diffuser, quarter panels, boot panel) is one-off carbon fibre, with the bonnet, grille surround, and plenty of the interior decked out in the black stuff as well. Just imagine how much one-off carbon parts must cost.
Speaking of the interior, Kingpin features new Dakota Digital gauges, Ringbrothers’ ‘Enyo’ steering wheel, a stitch-perfect retrim, and a one-off roll cage. This is very much not just another modified Mustang; still, calling Kingpin a Mustang is probably a slight disservice to the work undertaken by Ringbrothers. And while projects like this are beyond the reach of most enthusiasts, they serve as a reminder that the Wisconsin outfit does offer up parts for less extreme builds. There are 19 pages of Ringbrothers parts for sale just for the 1969-70 Mustang Model Year, from sound insulation to hinges and filters to shifters, so you can have Ringbrothers influence without going the full Kingpin.
Mike Ring, the other Ringbrother, said: “Over 5,500 hours went into building Kingpain and perfecting its aesthetics. Every piece of this car has been touched and updated with sharpening the original design cues in mind,” added Ringbrothers co-founder Mike Ring. “There are a lot of nuances that went into the design, and we’re grateful for our team of trusted partners… for making it all possible.” No doubt they’re already working on something wild and wonderful for 2026 - we can’t wait to see it.
Seeing these photos I miss my old 1969 Mach 1, I should never have sold it.
Put it this way, to get all that custom body work just right it might have taken 500 hours (three people working 8 hours a day for four weeks) between scanning, CAD models, moulds, test bits... you get the idea.
Actually that's assuming it's carbon, a lot of their creations are. If it's ally it might be way more than that.
I own a 60's muscle car, but unfortunately two things prevent massive mods.
1) the cost
2) the DVLA.
'69 Mustang is the car I would like, and am actively looking at the moment, but I want one that someone has soent some money modernising in a compliant way. Not easy to find in the UK.
As an aside, in a world where gap between rich amd poor is widening, and displays of wealth are at best in poor taste and at worst invite animosity/conflict, these old US cars seem to be quite good at getting lots of thumbs-up from the public and positive reactions. They seem to have shed their slightly dodgy image over here and become appreciated, yet are still a heck of a lot cheaper than European classic car royalty.
I own a 60's muscle car, but unfortunately two things prevent massive mods.
1) the cost
2) the DVLA.
'69 Mustang is the car I would like, and am actively looking at the moment, but I want one that someone has soent some money modernising in a compliant way. Not easy to find in the UK.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff