Safari-Style 1968 Ford Mustang With Coyote V8 Up For Auction

In the world of the Porsche 911, enthusiasts have long modified versions of the long-running sports car to be a more competent off-road vehicle, a trend that really started when Porsche itself won the Paris-Dakar Rally in a similar machine decades ago. Porsche took advantage of this trend recently by creating the brand new 911 Dakar, which carries a massive price tag and is sold in scant quantities. Ford Mustang fans don’t have anything similar available at the moment, but they can at least bid on this wild safari-style 1968 build, at least.

Up for auction at Bring a Trailer, this 1968 Ford Mustang was actually designed to look a lot like the pony car that starred in the 1999 film The Thomas Crown Affair, including its Shelby-style bodywork, along with a carbon-fiber front lip and side skirts, a Ringbrothers hood pin kit, hood hinges, door handles, strikers, and side mirrors. The whole thing was covered in Nightmist Blue with white over-the-top stripes. Other notable features include flared wheel arches a full-size spare mounted to the decklid, plus a tubular roll bar with four KC HiLiTES.

Underneath, one will find a Mustang II-style front suspension with a Heidt’s IFS kit and coilovers, a four-link rear setup, and a set of 17-inch Legendary Wheel LW10 wheels wrapped with 245/65 Nitto Ridge Grappler tires. Power comes from the 5.0L V8 Coyote engine, which was reportedly yanked from a Roush F-150 and is mated to Tremec TKO600 five-speed manual transmission and a nine-inch Ford rear end with 3:50 gears, making for a pretty fun combination.

Aside from the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally, there aren’t any off-road-focused pony cars in the current Blue Oval lineup – though rumors of an off-road version of the Ford Mustang coupe have swirled for some time now. Ford CEO Jim Farley previously poured a bit of cold water on such a thing, but a few months ago, the automaker also reportedly showed off an off-road Ford Mustang to dealers at a recent event – so perhaps we’ll have the option of buying a brand new, safari-style pony car in the near future, after all.