The EAA holds a number of events throughout the year, but it’s The Gathering in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, that serves as the organization’s largest fundraising opportunity.
Ford has produced a wild array of liveried and customized vehicles to serve as highlight auction items. This year, it’s another Mustang GT that gets the chance to shine, and it’s been created to honor the U.S. pilots who fought in WWII as part of the Eagle Squadron of the Royal Air Force prior to the U.S. joining the war effort.
Vaughn Gittin, Jr.’s RTR Vehicles helped build the car. RTR creates dealer-installed Mustang option packages based on Japanese drift culture and European style.
The setting to reveal this car couldn’t be more appropriate. Ford is bringing the Eagle Squadron Mustang GT to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Gittin will be on hand, which means the rear tires should be put to good use as they roar up Lord March’s driveway. Helping obliterate those tires will be Gittin’s right foot and a modified 5.0-liter V-8 that now cranks out 700 horsepower thanks to a Ford Performance supercharger.
To pay homage to the American pilots serving duty alongside our British friends, this Mustang wears a livery similar to what the Spitfire fighter planes wore in WWII. Those planes flew over the very grounds were the Goodwood festival is held, as the Eagle Squadron patrolled the coasts of Britain and France.
The Supermarine Spitfire still holds a bit of a horsepower advantage over the Mustang, of course. A supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin engine produced nearly 1,400 horsepower.
Beyond the livery and engine upgrades, the Eagle Squadron Mustang GT features the RTR widebody kit and a Tactical Performance suspension package. It doesn’t hurt to have a bit more in the way of chassis performance and tire size when you’re ready to rock with 700 horsepower.
After it’s debut at Goodwood on July 12, the Mustang will arrive at The Gathering on July 26. There it will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The proceeds will go to the EAA’s youth education programs and you can expect it to fetch a six-figure sum.
Besides getting the keys to a rather rad ride, the winning bidder will receive an all-inclusive package for two to attend the 2018 Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit. It’s there the car will be officially signed over, along with an autographed plaque signed by Gittin and the Ford Design team.
Of all the designs Ford has created over the years for the EAA event, this one ranks up there as one of the best, though it’s certainly not the biggest.
