Ken Block Mustang 'Hoonifox' unveiled
Ford's eighties Fox body Mustang becomes Miami Vice-inspired Gymkhana machine for 2020
Ford’s Fox body Mustang has provided the base for Ken Block’s latest Hoonigan Racing drift car, a machine that mixes Blue Oval motorsport heritage with a Miami Vice theme for dramatic results. The wide-arched Hoonifox has been designed by Hollywood graphic artist and creator of the new Batmobile, Ash Thorp, with influences ranging from global motorsport aerodynamics to the flamboyant fashion of 1980s America. Suffice to say it takes a fairly restrained Mustang body shape and makes it absolutely mental.
First thing’s first, the new powertrain. We’re not given many clues at this early design stage, but Block has said it’s a return to something more traditional than the highly boosted 2.0-litre of his last Cossie drift car. Given Block’s comments, a naturally aspirated V8 feels like the most obvious choice for the all-wheel drive machine, but we’re not able to peer deep enough into the rendered Hoonifox’s intake to count the trumpets, so it may indeed be something else, like a turbocharged six-pot. Expect a preposterous output either way.
Despite being isolated from each other during lockdown, designer Thorp and Block have been regularly conversing about the design, with Thorp taking his client’s requests for something decidedly retro and mixing in his own motorsport influences. There are lines taken from GT racing cars, DTM aero pieces and American muscle features on the finished, carbon-bodied design, which gets its name from the widely known internal designation of ‘Fox body’ for the eighties Mustang platform.
Several finishes have been rendered, including a Miami Vice Countach-esque white one, a more predictable all-black one and, thanks to Thorp’s own affection for the eighties, a few more vibrant versions that are said to be inspired by Thorp’s childhood clothes. None dial back the enormous, muscular form of the Hoonifox design though, which is exactly the point. Block’s Hoonigan lineage has included everything from an F-150 pick-up to a Mk2 Escort, but all have one thing in common: lunacy.
When lockdown lifts and Block’s team can get to building the Hoonifox, it will eventually star in the eleventh of his Gymkhana series. Whatever the final specifications of this Mustang-based creation, expect enormous angle, plenty of noise and a whole lot of tyre smoke. Some things never change.
100% clear in the video what engine is used (and why) as you get lots of angles of it. Check it out, count and then you'll be able to write some detail into your article!
Come on man, that's not as bad as every fast late '90's / early '00's JDM car EVER people only knew about because of Gran Turismo f
king Two To do it all at no cost to those interested, is a gift to all those who enjoy this sort of thing and gifts should be accepted with grace, not complaint.
It's a guy living his dream and sharing it with us...
Long may Ken Block's productions keep being churned out. Beats wasting hours searching for random stuff on YouTube.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff