Mustang Kyle Interview

Scouring through the tens of thousands of vehicles posted online every single day, every once in a while, you stumble across a build that makes you stop whatever you are doing just to take a second, third, and fourth look at it.

When it comes to Ford Mustangs that make you take a step back every time that you see it, you would be hard-pressed to find a more unique build than Kyle Scaife’s decked out 1967 Coupe! Known affectionately as @mustangkyle on Instagram, this pony car enthusiast has rewritten the book on how to customize a First Generation ‘Stang.

As you can see in the photos provided, Kyle has modified the car’s exterior, engine bay, and much more in an effort to shape this classic pony in his image. We caught up with Kyle and learned more about him and his one-of-a-kind build!

Highly-Customized Mustang Owner Q & A

CJ Pony Parts: Tell us a little about yourself.
Kyle: “I'm 24 years old, I live in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. I work for a small family business doing custom metal fabrication, mostly for pharmaceutical companies, but some residential stuff and the odd vehicle-related thing as well. “

CJ Pony Parts: What a cool build that certainly stands out from the rest! From the LS engine under the hood to the mismatching body panels, this car looks like it came out of a dream. What was your inspiration?
Kyle: “I had a few inspirations really. We were putting a Viper engine into a 71 Cuda in our shop that was chopped and on air and I fell in love with the slammed classic look. And also Ken Block had released Gymkhana 7 shortly before that as well and that obviously was a huge inspiration as well for my car.”

CJ Pony Parts: Out of all of the cars that you could have modified this heavily, why did you choose a 1967 Mustang?
Kyle: “Honestly, it was available. I saw this beat up old Mustang and I thought it was perfect. If it was a 69 Camaro instead, on there that was beat up and cheap, I probably would have had a Camaro today instead.”

CJ Pony Parts: What other builds have you worked on in the past and what were they like compared to this one?
Kyle: “I've worked on two Viper Cudas, and a 1946 Ford Pickup that also had a C5 Corvette drivetrain. The other builds were less involved than my car for sure so they were a lot simpler in that sense. The nice thing about building a car for yourself though is you don't have to try to put yourself in someone else's shoes and try to figure out if they would like the look of a certain thing you're making. You just do whatever you want to do.”

CJ Pony Parts: Have you taken it to any car events? If so, which ones? Which sort of events are you targeting in the future?
Kyle: “I've taken it to a few local classic meets just within an hour or so of where I live, as well as Import Expo (Even though it's not an import lol) And the most significant event was I drove it 12 hours down to Ocean City, Maryland for H2Oi. I'll definitely be going back down to H2Oi next year, and hopefully stay for cruise week the week after. I'll also attend a bunch of local shows next year.”

CJ Pony Parts: What was the biggest learning moment during this build?
Kyle: “The toughest part of the build for myself was actually learning the mechanical side of the vehicle. I'm a fabricator, not a mechanic by any means so dealing with suspension geometry and the fuel system and wiring, it was all new stuff to me.”

CJ Pony Parts: Although the majority of this car is definitely not stock, are there any CJ parts on installed?
Kyle: “The taillights, headlights and the filler cap are all from CJ’s! And they're basically the only untouched mustang parts on the car lol. (Besides the painted taillight bezels)”

CJ Pony Parts: This Mustang looks absolutely killer right now. But, do you have any future plans for this car whether it's aesthetic or performance?
Kyle: “Over the winter while I can't drive the car because of the terrible Canadian winters, I'm going to be changing the fenders to make them more of a proper widebody. The current fenders were only a temporary design based on pure simplicity in order to drive the car this season. Also, I'll be doing some sort of front chin splitter on it, as well a big rear diffuser. And possibly a chassis mount wing or a ducktail, that's still undecided.”

CJ Pony Parts: Do you have any future projects in mind after this one?
Kyle: “I'd really like to build a 4 door Jeep with a Cummins turbo diesel in it one day. Also a little exo cage car with a Hayabusa engine in the back lol.”

CJ Pony Parts: Based on your personal experiences, what advice would you give to fellow car enthusiasts if they hope to completely revamp a classic Mustang like this?
Kyle: “Plan, plan, and plan some more. Plan everything. If you don't you'll just end up running in circles. Figure out exactly what you want out of the car and the best way to get there. It makes no sense to do things twice. If you know you're going to want 700hp in a few years, don't buy a fuel system that maxes out at 500hp. Don't waste time and money on things that aren't going to get you where you want to go. And the number one thing I can say is, don't do things for other people. Build your car for yourself. Do whatever makes you happy. There will always be people who don't like your build, so you might as well build it for yourself.”

More of Mustang Kyle’s Build

Image Credit: @zummy on Instagram