SR-71 Mustang Takes Flight For Charity

For the past three years, Ford has helped support the “Gathering of Eagles” charity event, sponsored by the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA), by providing unique aviation-themed Mustangs for auction. These have been some pretty high-flying rides, and they’ve netted similarly high-flying bids: Last year’s “AV-X10 Dearborn Doll” Mustang, built to honor the iconic Mustang P-51 fighter plane from World War II, earned $250,000 for the charity. But while that’s no doubt impressive, it pales in comparison to both this year’s car and this year’s winning bid: Paying homage to the supersonic Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, the SR-71 Mustang went home with one lucky buyer for the stratospheric sum of $375,000.

Of course, in this case, the “SR” designation holds a further special meaning for Mustang fans, as it also refers to Shebly and Roush—as in noted Mustang masters Carroll Shelby and Jack Roush. The former is renowned as the driving force behind classics like the Shelby Cobra and today’s Shelby GT500, while the latter helped found NASCAR’s Roush Racing team and one of the premier Ford aftermarket houses, Roush Performance.

The SR-71 is their first joint project, and it more than lives up to expectations. The foundation of this amazing muscle car is a glass-roof 2011 Mustang GT, which packs Ford’s advanced 5.0-liter all-aluminum V8. In production guise, this mill is good for a healthy 412 hp, but the SR-71 adds a Ford Racing supercharger and enough other “go fast” goodies to tack on another hundred horses. Also in the mix: a Ford Racing handling pack, tuned exhaust and custom exhaust tips.

But what really distinguishes this one-off wonder is its SR-71-themed exterior, which showcases aero-style front and rear fascias, performance wheels, an integrated spoiler/wing, and a stunning paint job. It’s a subtle mix of black and grey matte with reddish-orange accents, set off by bold SR-71 graphics and a special screen-print design on the car’s glass roof. The SR-71’s complementary interior holds just the passenger and one driver, and it features, unsurprisingly, a cockpit-style approach, with custom gauges and instrument-cluster graphics, a roll cage, racing seats, and a fire extinguisher.

And while the SR-71 Mustang can’t quite match its namesake’s ability to break Mach 3, it’s still much, much more than just a plane old hot rod.