From the Shop of East Bay Muscle Cars Comes This Extraordinary Blue Oval
By Brian Brennan – Photography By Author
The “reveal” began with the first of the Top Five finalists for the 2024 Barrett-Jackson Cup being the ’68 Ford Mustang belonging to Brad Brown and built by East Bay Muscle Cars (Brentwood, CA). The opening two days (Saturday and Sunday) are what we call “ “get ready” days for the week-long auction. No bidding or selling is occurring on the main stage but there are thousands of people walking in the many tents taking in all that there is to see besides the auction.
The big excitement for us hot rod car types is the Barrett-Jackson Cup and the many prizes that are presented to the Top Five finalists all the while we are waiting to see who will take home the $20,000 check and trophy handed out by the Craig Jackson of the Barrett-Jackson Auction and Bobby Alloway of Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop. The two top-flight judges “absorb” all they can with each of the 50 entrants to come away with a Top Five and then the Ultimate Best In Show.
The first of the Top Five Finalists to be announced is Rampant, a ’68 Ford Mustang Fastback that is powered by a supercharged 5.0L Coyote V-8 coupled to a TREMEC T56 Magnum six-speed manual gearbox. The Mustang sits on a Roadster Shop chassis with fully independent suspension and rolls on a set of Forgeline wheels.
The ’68 Ford Mustang also features an interior by DJ Designs along with Glasurit Octane Red paint applied by Compani Color. Other unique body mods include the one-off removable aluminum rocker panels which are the gateway to the plumbing, wiring, and hydraulics. More handiwork includes the billet aluminum fixed wing windows and flush mount glass, functional billet side vents that provide cabin airflow and reshaped bodyline.
Other awards the ’68 Ford Mustang has taken home include the 2023 SEMA Glasurit People’s Choice Award, the 2023 Goodguys Gold Award, and was in the Top Five of Roadster Shop’s “Best on RS” at the 2023 SEMA show. MR
