Your first question whenever you chat with Ray Ikin is, “What have you bought this week?” He laughs and then settles down to reveal the latest addition to his enviably large shed.
Ray runs a modest muscle-car museum in Traralgon, Victoria, and has long been a serial buyer of all sorts of interesting gear, in addition to being one of the country’s most prolific restorers of Valiant Chargers.
A couple of years back he got a bee in his bonnet about V8 coupes from the early 2000s and added a 2001 Tickford-developed Ford Mustang Cobra to his fleet. Move on six months and he’s added a 2003 Holden Monaro CV8.
Given the Holden was launched about the same time as the Tickford car, the pair makes for an interesting snapshot of what the local coupe buyer might expect all those years ago.
Really, to get the Ford, you would have had to be a dedicated blue oval fan. A coupe would set you back $85,000, while you could add $4990 for the convertible. That compared to $58,750 for the Monaro in the spec you see here. The Mustang was also about $10,000 dearer than the ultimate Monaro variant of the day, the HSV GTO.
Of course the Ford ended up selling in low numbers, thought by Ray to be 200. So why bother?
As Cliff Chambers explains in our online feature on these cars: “Ford in 1999 was headed for a horror patch due to criticism of its AU Falcon and adoption of the unloved Mondeo as a Telstar replacement. The brand’s Tickford Performance Vehicle subsidiary was accordingly handed the task of spending $4 million on adapting the 4.6-litre, 240kW Mustang Cobra to Australian conditions and regulations.”
That engine is a real highlight from an owner’s point of view. In the Cobra, it was running overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, and had a reputation for spinning up quickly and having a sharp throttle response. The one description all owners seem to share, including Ray, is “lively”.
The Monaro meanwhile runs the LS-series 5.7lt V8 which in this form claims 245kW. Ray’s car runs the four-speed automatic, while his Mustang has the five-speed manual. On the face of it, there seems to be little between the two in performance.
Holden went on to build 55,000 Monaros up until 2005, dwarfing the tiny numbers for the Mustang.
Despite the modest sales, Ford didn’t stint when it came to converting the cars from left- to right-hand drive. Tickford said it had developed 150 new components for the project, reshaped the floor pan and subtly shifted the engine location – a huge job.
The development of this series Mustang goes back much further, all the way to its launch in late 1993. You could order V6 or V8 power and the line inevitably sprouted myriad variants.
As for the Monaro, it famously sprang from a ‘skunkworks’ style project where only a few people at GM-H were privy to the development of a new model. Then Holden design boss Mike Simcoe is said to have refined the lines with a sketch on his lounge-room wall and the hurriedly-assembled prototype debuted at the October 1998 Sydney Motor Show.
Ray reckons both cars are a quick and comfortable drive – he loves the effortless nature of them. In fact he was so impressed he convinced his brother Greg to get in on the act as well. “Ray showed me a picture of this Mustang in Unique Cars,” says Greg, “And I really liked the look of it.”
It’s a 1995 Mustang GT auto with a host of Chip Foose gear on board, including wheels and seat.
“Unfortunately I was going into hospital for surgery, so Ray did the negotiations. He got a mate to see it and drive it, and he gave a good report.”
Apparently the purchase was a great decision. “I drive it more than anything else I own at the moment,” says Greg.
When Ray bought his Ford, it was in astonishing shape for something showing 70,000km on the odometer. The previous owner was obviously fussy, going to the trouble of getting the wheels powder coated, but there was more. It had an incredibly clean and tidy engine bay.
Ray rang the bloke for an explanation. Apparently the car had developed mechanical dramas, including a blown head gasket. Tickford took back the Mustang and completely rebuilt the V8, with loads of new components.
While the engine was out, the owner pulled out all the other gear and had everything blasted and refinished. The result is something that looks new.
Meanwhile Ray struggled with the standard plain white duco on the Ford, pointing out “it’s not a Cobra without the stripes”. That was fixed by getting his local signwriter to do the honours – a big improvement. Otherwise, he’s left the two cars alone and simply enjoyed them.
Unlike your kids, you are allowed to have a favourite when it comes to cars – so what’s your pick, Ray? “I took them out and drove them back-to-back over the same road and it was hard to choose between the two. I lean a little bit towards the Mustang because I prefer manuals – but that’s the only difference.”
It’s a hell of a choice to have to make…