Back in the day, every pizza joint in the world promised a hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less. This prompted every delivery driver to drive his or her Toyota Tercel like a modern-day Duke boy in an effort to keep you from getting a free pizza. Several accidents and lawsuits later, the 30-minute delivery time went the way of the IROC Camaro.

If there was ever a restaurant that could keep its promise of a 30-minute delivery time, it would be Maria's Italian Restaurant in Cape Coral, Florida, because the GT you see here has seen delivery duty by its owner Michael Saponara. And with 700 hp under the hood, you know he won't be late.

The GT is Michael's fifth Mustang. He started out with a black '86 GT, then moved on to a gray '86 GT, a red '93 5.0, and a '96 4.6 that he bought brand-new. All had the same exhaust, gears, and shifter modifications to keep them street-friendly. "I never wanted to do more," Michael says, "because I was delivering pizzas with all of them and couldn't afford to lose the driveability. Then I bought my '87 GT. I drove it bone-stock for about a year, until Third gear went out." In October 2000 he took the car to J&J Performance where co-owner Justin Nelson rebuilt the transmission. "That transmission was better than my brand-new '96 GT," Michael says. "I was so impressed with the work, I went back and asked Justin what we could do to make it fast but still keep it a daily driver for my job."

Justin's answer included the initial installation of an off-road pipe, Flowmasters, and 3.73 gears. This 5.0 Mustang staple of mods lasted two weeks before round two kicked in with GT40P heads, a Crane 2031 cam, an Explorer intake, a mass air conversion, a throttle body, roller rockers, a fuel pump, an Auburn diff, and a Nitrous Works 175-shot kit. In this form, the car's best quarter-mile pass was a 12.0 at 110 mph. "After going through two bottles of nitrous a week for two months, I had enough," Michael says. It was time for another change.

In February 2001 Michael again talked to Justin, this time about building a seriously fast street car and "...whether we would we be able to get it ready for Fun Ford Bradenton, which was a month away."

Fortunately for them, a friend happened to have a brand-new A4 block lying around, for which the dynamic duo ordered up a Probe Racing Components 347 Street Fighter stroker kit, Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads, a Holley SysteMAX II intake, Kooks 17/8 headers, a Dr. Gas X-pipe, and an ATI-ProCharger D1 supercharger. Knowing the car was going to make killer power, the boys also called UPR Products for a fuel system capable of supporting 1,000 hp. With the hope of running 10s, safety was also pushed to the front of the class, with Justin welding in an S&W Race cars eight-point cage. Justin also installed a driveshaft safety loop and Superior axles within the stock 8.8 rear, along with a slew of Auto Meter gauges to keep track of underhood goings-on.

Working day and night for three weeks, everything went as planned, except the blower had still not arrived. Michael and Justin threw the nitrous back on the car and headed to Bradenton for the Fun Ford race. The stock computer still lived in the kick panel, and the car didn't even have a Ford Racing Performance Parts RPM Extender. Without any tuning on the car, the boys had to chase down the proper tune-up at the race. Even so, the GT qualified with an 11.60. In the first round of eliminations, they had the tune figured out. "What a wild ride that was," Michael says. "The car launched and the driveshaft stayed."

The blower showed up two days after Bradenton. Once it was installed, instead of fighting clutch issues, Justin cried uncle and called Performance Automatic for a Super Pro Comp C4 transmission. With the blower installed and the transmission ready to rock, the two took the GT to UPR for some tuning and a few dyno pulls. Sounding as if he's read one too many issues of Car Craft magazine, Michael says the car made "605 hp at the tires on 93 octane!"

At Fun Ford's next stop in Atlanta, the car ran an average of 10.94 at 130 mph with a 1.80 60-foot time. Before the Alabama Fun Ford, Michael and Justin tuned the suspension, which helped them realize a best of 10.40 at 132 mph with a 1.60 60-foot time and a Second-Place finish in True Street.

Then Michael got greedy, turning up the wick on the blower and adding racing gas. With these changes the car made 706 hp and 754 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels, again at UPR. But after this boost in power, traction problems once again came back to bite 'em. Joe Mainiero at UPR suggested changing around the suspension by adding his double-adjustable upper control arms, single-adjustable lowers, an antiroll bar, Lakewood 50/50 drag shocks, Competition Engineering struts, four-cylinder springs, and a tubular K-member.

Michael had to sit out the Gainesville Fun Ford, but Justin took the car to victory in the True Street class with a 10.18 at 138 mph average. The duo still had traction problems, with 60-foot times hovering in the 1.8 area.

Even though Michael was still driving the car daily, and even delivering pizzas on occasion, he and Justin continued fine-tuning the car's tune-up, suspension, and appearance. Wally Schbolom at Wally's Auto Restoration in Fort Myers, Florida, painted the car Rubine Red Pearl (a PT Cruiser hue), and Michael added a Kaenan 4-inch cowl hood and a Cobra grille insert. A trip to the dragstrip to test the suspension tweaks resulted in a 9.90 at 136 mph with a 1.48 60-foot time on slicks. Just to show you those times weren't a fluke, at the '01 Ford Power Festival at Moroso Motorsports Park (where we photographed the car), the GT ran 10.10s at more than 139 mph with a 1.50 60-foot time using Mickey Thompson ET Streets.

"I think we solved our traction problems," Michael says. To which we respond, "Really!"

Michael Saponara & His '87 GT

Michael Saponara was the first car in line on Saturday afternoon when the cars began their three qualifying passes. He was still there after all the cars were done. At 3,440 lbs with driver, Mike’s 9.08, 8.97 and 9.09 worked out to a 9.052 average, which was certainly more impressive. While no one else had times that were even close, Mike was actually very lucky to make it through all three rounds. He had a tire go down at the end of the last run and was lucky to even make it back to the pits. Mike’s 1987 GT used an A4 block bored and stroked out to 347 cubes with a set of Oliver rods and CO 8.5:1 pistons topped with Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads. Boost came in the form of a Precision PT88 turbo, which can support up to 1,250-hp. Backing the engine is a 2-speed Powerglide with an 8.8-inch rear holding 3.55 gears and Mark Williams 35-spline axles. What makes this car particularly interesting is the fact that he still runs factory A/C along with stock power steering and brakes. It’s so street worthy; he even used it to deliver pizza from the Italian restaurant he owns. Mike has since won three out of the last four FFW Gainesville events and plans to hit several more before the season is out. His goal? To try to break the FFW True Street 3-run record average of 8.98 seconds. Hats off to Michael and his great running 1987 GT!

 

 

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2004 Mercury Marauder - Luxury Land Missile

When you think of a car that can routinely blast off mid-10-second quarter-mile times, "daily driver" and "four doors" are usually not the first things that come to mind. But then again, this is not your usual four-door daily driver. Tom Archambault of Cape Coral, Florida, proudly boasts that his '04 Mercury Marauder not only sees daily duty, but runs well into the 10s without breaking a sweat. Not convinced? Keep reading.

Tom, a long-time drag racer, has owned quite the list of muscle Mustangs and fast Fords dating back to the early '70s. Racing a '72 351-powered Maverick from '72-'75 at New England Dragway, the go-fast bug bit him at an early age and it has never gone away. As a retired police officer and an avid Mustang enthusiast, Tom knew two things. First, he always liked the Panther-chassis Fords (Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis), and second, he loves going fast. As if it was made just for him, Mercury seamlessly blended luxury and performance in 2003, releasing the Marauder. Based off the Grand Marquis and powered by a naturally aspirated DOHC, 4.6L, V-8, the Marauder offered the comfort and amenities you expect from Mercury, and the solid foundation for guys like Tom to build dream cars.

"I saw the Marauder in the local Lincoln Mercury dealership in 2003," Tom tells us. "It only came in black and I didn't want another black car living here in Florida. When a silver one came out in 2004, I waited until one with the sunroof option showed up and I bought it off the showroom floor."

But Tom realized the stock 4.6 didn't possess the power needed to keep him happy. On the road to the perfect daily driver, Tom spent hours researching parts and combinations trying to find a delicate balance. Once the ball was set in motion, forced induction was the direction Tom knew he had to go in order to achieve the end result he was looking for. While most people in the Marauder community take the Roots-type supercharger road, Tom was looking to be a little different. Having had ProChargers on multiple Mustangs in the past, a P1SC and a set of 4.10 gears would supply the fix.

"I wanted something that I could expand on," Tom adds. "The P1SC was the way to go because I could send it back to ProCharger and have it upgraded when I was ready to go faster."

Once the blower was installed, it was time get the car tuned. When all was said and done, Tom's Marauder produced a tire-shredding 475 hp--at the rear hides. With his new ProCharger breathing extra life into this grocery getter, it was time for Tom to take it down the strip. After bolting on a set of Nitto drag radials, Tom sent his soon-to-be silver bullet down the quarter-mile to the tune of 12.30 at 119 mph.

Wanting more, Tom sent his P1SC back to ProCharger so it could be upgraded to the D1SC that now sits in the engine bay. In order for the still-stock engine to handle the added boost, he enlisted Al Papitto of Boss 330 Racing of Vero Beach, Florida. Wanting to keep an original Marauder engine in the car and minimize downtime, they set out to find a second Marauder mill.

Al gave the aluminum 4.6L the royal treatment, filling the bores with CP pistons, Manley rods, and a forged Cobra crank, while keeping the stock displacement. The stock Four-Valve cylinder heads were updated with Ferrera valves and heavy-duty valvesprings, then installed back on the newly rebuilt short-block. With the compression now at 9.3:1, it was time to pick new camshafts. Al turned to Comp Cams for a set of 0.475-inch lift shafts with a duration of 274 at 0.050. The stock intake manifold was reinstalled along with a set of 60-pound injectors and a DiabloSport MAFia MAF extender. The added lung capacity from the upgraded D1 now exhales though a set of Stainless Works headers and cross-pipe, flowing into a set of 2-inch Flowmaster mufflers.

 

Once the upgraded powerplant was in place, the rest of the running gear became Tom's center of attention. Finding a transmission capable of handling close to 1,000 hp and yet still tackle the rigors of daily use was going to be a challenge. Darrin Burch of BC Automotive in Danville, Indiana, took Tom's 4R75W four-speed automatic and gave it a complete overhaul. A custom 3,500-stall converter was given the nod along with a B&M trans cooler to keep the temperature under control.

 

A four-inch Dynatech aluminum driveshaft transfers power to the stock rearend housing. Next, a new Detroit Truetrac differential with 4.10 gears along with a set of 31-spline Moser axles was installed to safely transfer power to the ground. Metco upper and lower control arms were called into action, making sure the rear stays in line under hard acceleration. QA1 shocks and an upgraded sway bar from Addco keep the tires firmly planted to the ground on and off the track.

When it came time to retune the car, Tom brought in Scott Beer of Pompono Beach, Florida, to reprogram the ECM. At the end of the day, the Marauder spun the rollers to an earth-shaking 772 rwhp and 643 lb-ft of torque sans nitrous. With a tune for race fuel, it was time to head back down the quarter-mile. After heating up the Nittos, Tom dropped the hammer when the light turned green and blasted down the strip to an 11.32 at 129 mph. Although happy with his Marauder's newfound legs, there was more left to be uncovered. To get this 4,500-pound monster out of the gate, a 100-shot wet-system from Zex was added for the launch. With the car retuned for an initial hit of giggle gas, Tom headed back to the track. With the tires hot and the converter torqued, Tom let his Marauder fly to the tune of a sick 10.90 at 132 mph. The much-improved 60-foot time of 1.77 was exactly what he was looking for.

In November of 2008, Tom loaded up his Marauder and headed to Commerce, Georgia, for the Southern Super Heavyweight Shootout at Atlanta Dragway. Now with full slicks, he was able to soar down the track to an incredible 10.40 at 135 mph.

"Of all the cars I've had, the Marauder has been the most fun, and the best daily driver of them all," Tom tells us. "The amount of power it puts to the wheels is astounding, yet it maintains its civil driving nature on the street. It's a beautiful, luxury-based ride. I can take the wife to a fine restaurant, or haul the grandkids to various events and yet blast down the quarter-mile in 10 seconds. It doesn't get any better than that." We couldn't agree more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1993 Notchback Mustang - Dental Hygiene - Fox Street Star

After Dental School, Rick Linden Filled His Need For A Killer-Clean Fox Street Star

From the February, 2009 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords

By Richard Linden, Dale Amy

Photography by Dale Amy

 

 

We're usually the ones who pen feature car stories because, well, that's how we earn those big, fat magazine paychecks. But the following first-person narrative that accompanied Rick Linden's tech sheet tells the tale about his sanitary, yet insanely powerful, '93 notchback concisely and painlessly. Being a dentist, we guess he knows the drill

Growing up in Detroit, it seemed as if everyone had a hot rod in their garage; everyone except me, that is. I had made up my mind at a young age to pursue an education, so I could never afford to build what I really wanted. But I made myself a promise to build my ultimate street car as soon as it was possible.

There never was any question as to what make or model car to build. Every GM product I ever owned ended up with a blown motor. my first car was a Dodge Dart-enough said there-and I had owned a few Ford pickups that I just couldn't kill. To me, the 5.0 Fox-body Mustang just looked and sounded cooler than anything on the street.

My first Mustang was an '89 hatchback stick car that I bought in bone-stock condition with 32,000 miles on it. It was beautiful but slow. Stop me if you've heard this one before, but it didn't take long for me to replace nearly every part on the car. It had a Mexican block, good pistons and rods, a Vortech S-Trim blower, short-tube headers, a Performance Automatic C-4 Supercomp tranny, and some drag suspension components, among other things. It was a killer, super-fun street car that spun the dyno to 498 rwhp and ran 10.1 all day long. Anyone could get in that car and strip off a low-10-second pass; it was that predictable and easy to drive. It would hook on the street and I never lost a street race.

But before long that just wasn't fast enough. So I had the car rebuilt from the ground up. I was going to try to build the fastest stock suspension car in the country. I started with an A-4 block bored 0.100 over, added an 88mm turbo, rollcage, gutted all the creature comforts, and ended up with a car that went 5.5's in the eighth and 8.35 in the quarter. I wrecked the car at our local track in spectacular fashion, so I needed another Mustang.

I built yet another race car and raced it successfully for a year or two, but I soon began to tire of trailers, tow vehicles, expensive repairs, and down time while the race car was broken. I began to miss the fun I had with my first Mustang street car. So I gave up racing with the intention of building my ultimate street car.

I wanted a Fox coupe and I wanted one that hadn't been beaten to death. I wanted a silver coupe with black interior that was in good shape-good luck. I searched the Internet for months and went on several wild goose chases until I found my '93 coupe, complete with black interior and five-speed, unmolested and in fantastic shape. I bought it from Jay Meagher, who worked at Lamotta Performance near Orlando. Jay worked on Mustangs all day long and he was basically "over it" when it came to modifying Mustangs, so he kept his street car stock. I paid him a fair sum for my blank canvas and promised him he would like the result when I was done.

 

My next move was to contact our local Mustang hotshot, Justin Nelson at J&J Performance in Ft. Myers, Florida. We sat down over lunch and I explained to him what my vision of the ultimate Fox body coupe would be. It would have to look stock; in fact, I insisted that the stock hood be maintained. It would make a ton of horsepower utilizing the stock Ford computer, run on pump gas, and have A/C and a killer stereo. It would have to be a stick, even though my past experiences taught me that an automatic is usually faster in most cases. there is just no underestimating the fun-factor associated with rowing through the gears. I wanted comfortable seats, a stock-looking cockpit without a rollcage, and a smoothed engine bay without those annoying Swiss cheese inner body panels and wires running everywhere. Finally, I wanted a car that would turn and stop.

Several thousand dollars and a year later, I have my ultimate Fox-body Mustang. I don't know what it runs in the quarter, and I really don't care. That's not what I built the car for. I do know that it dyno'd at 590 rwhp, and it stops and turns better than my wife's '03 Cobra. It sounds wicked, but it's not exceptionally loud. And when I pop the hood,people freak out.

I'd like to thank Jay Meagher for keeping the car in such good shape before I owned it, Justin Nelson for doing the assembly, Mike Saponara for his help, Jim Noble at American Enterprise Collision in Cape Coral, Florida, for smoothing the engine bay and providing the wonderful paint job, and most of all, my wife, Maria, the love of my life.

In summary, I think you really need to be a Fox-body Mustang devotee to truly appreciate this car. Chevy people look at it and they see a stock Mustang with a shiny engine. They have no idea that it makes almost 600 hp and will eat their car for lunch. That's what I like most about the car. It's beautiful, has a serious engine with a Dart block and Crower billet crankshaft, turns great, stops well, has A/C, and will lay waste to almost anything in its path. It may not be for everyone, but it's a perfect representation of my ultimate street car. I hope others enjoy it too.

We couldn't have said it better, Rick.

5.0 Tech SpecsEngine And DrivetrainBlock DartBore4.030Stroke3.25Displacement331 ciCrankCrower billet steelRods4340 H-beamPistonsRossCompression Ratio9:1CamCam MotionSpecs576/584 lift, 242/254 duration, 113.5 degree lobe center angleRocker ArmsT&D shaftHeadsTrick Flow Twisted Wedge, with Bennett Stage III portingEngine Builder Justin Nelson, J&J Performance, Ft. Myers, FloridaIntakeEdelbrock Performer RPM II, ported by J&J PerformanceThrottle BodyAccufab 75mmMass AirPro-M 80mmInjectors42 lb/hrFuel PumpUPR twin Bosch 375-lphHeadersJBA short-tubeExhaustBassani X-pipe, Flowmaster Force II after-cat systemPower AdderPaxton Novi 2000, 12 psiTransmissionD&D Viper T56ClutchSPEC Stage IIIDriveshaftD&D Dynotech matrix aluminumRearend'98 Cobra 8.8, 4.10:1 gearset with stock Traction-Lok diffRollCage"None, it's a street car."

ElectronicsEngine ManagementEEC IV, with Diablosport chip by Willie FigueroaIgnitionMSD 6BTMGaugesAuto Meter

Suspension and Chassis Front SuspensionK-memberUPRControl armsUPRSpringsGriggs GR-40StrutsKoni YellowCaster/CamberUPRBrakes'98 CobraWheelsCobra R 17x8Tires245/45x17 Nitto 555Rear SuspensionSpringsGriggs coiloverShocksKoniControl armsGriggs MCA 4500 N/Griggs torque armBrakes'98 CobraWheelsCobra R 17x9Tires275/40x17 Nitto 555R.

 

 

 

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Wild Street was indeed wild thanks to the True Street/heads-up race category that it has morphed into. The head honchos at WFC took the popular MM&FF True Street idea and then twisted it a bit by using the three-run average as your qualifying runs. On Sunday, the cars then ran off as a heads-up class. Former MM&FF feature car owned by Michael Saponara was the champion in Wild Street. This turbocharged Mustang ran consistent 8.80s. The name of the game in Wild Street is survival. The field consisted of cars quicker than Saponara's Florida-based ride, but they either broke or had issues come eliminations time.

 

 

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Drag Radial
Watch out for Michael Saponara

Sep 12 2007:   Congratulations to

 Michael Saponara & J&J Performance get their drag radial car running better than ever. Michael runs a Pro Line Racing 427ci built engine with a pair of twin Precision PT-88mm turbos.

After making some test passes, Michael got his car to run a new best of 7.68@185.95mph! Not only did he run that fast, but he did it weighing in at a heavy 3520lbs!

How about these numbers:
1.27 - 60 ft.
3.37 - 330 ft.
5.02 - 660 ft. @ 150.35mph
7.68 - 1320 ft. @ 185.95mph