Moranti’s Steel AM P-51 Mustang Tribute

Build Breakdown

Feb 25

One day, while I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, I stumbled across a Mustang that stopped me in my tracks. The design and shape of the car instantly caught my attention like only a few Mustangs could. The car had some sort of aggressive aerodynamic features that made me think of a fighter jet, getting ready to pull some hard G’s. I could tell whoever built the car had a specific look and feeling in their mind they wanted to capture. I could tell some design features of the car were pulled from various other places but could not put my finger on where. After seeing the car for the first time, I instantly went to the owner’s page and began digesting as much as I could about the car. I eventually began to speak with the owner (@morantisteel) a little more about the build. I was not able to talk to him for an extended amount of time, but he was nice enough to share some basic information about the build and a plethora of detailed pictures of the car. The original shell of the car was a 1969 Mustang Fastback that began to quickly pull cues from the P-51 Mustang fighter plane that was introduced in the 1940’s. Hence the build being known as the AM P-51 tribute.

The car is draped over a fast-track elite independent rear suspension chassis with Penske coil overs from the Roadster Shop. The engine is a high revving ford racing Illuminator crate engine topped with a 2.9L Whipple supercharger. The engine is married to a fast shifting 6R90 transmission. In order to reign in all the wild mustangs coursing through the veins of this build, there are 15-inch Brembo disc brakes with 6-piston Monoblock calipers on every corner of the car. The body still bears a slight resemblance to a 69’ Mustang, however, all the added body features and accessories were designed by the builder/owner @mortiansteel and his small team. They then built every piece they could by hand with all the accessories and body panels on the car being made from aluminum instead of fiberglass. There is one not one shard of fiberglass anywhere on this build. Of course. You can’t pull inspiration from a fighter plane without having some incredible aerodynamics on the car. This Mustang has the same agility and maneuverability as a fighter jet, thanks to the active aero on the car which allows you to control the height and position of the wing to help with downforce increasing the breaking and turning capability of the car. The air flowing past this car is not all just used to keep it glued to the ground, it can be used to keep it running and provide its maximum output, thanks to the massive active air intakes in the front face of the rear fenders. This car needs to not so much be talked about but needs to be seen for the true craftsmanship and artistry behind the build. Below is a gigantic gallery of the progress of the build, some more complete images on the car, some videos showing off the strength of the air intakes, as well as that heart thumping engine you can feel in your chest, much like the low drone of a single propeller fighter plane.