US Air Force modifies muscle cars for total ground superiority
Not many people know this, but when the US Air Force isn't raining hellfire on Iraqi villages or inspiring Tom Cruise movies, it's modifying muscle cars to attract young, impressionable recruits
Not many people know this, but when the US Air Force isn't raining hellfire on small Iraqi villages or inspiring Tom Cruise movies, it's modifying muscle cars to attract young, impressionable recruits.
The cars in our photo gallery above are based on what used to be ordinary Ford Mustangs and Dodge Challengers. The black one -- which looks as if it could murder Kitt just for being in the same line of traffic -- is known as the Challenger Vapor. It's been finished in a radar-absorbing stealth-black paint, and has a 'stealth exhaust', so there's very little chance insurgents can shoot it out of the sky.
Outside, USAF has bolted on a 360-degree rotating camera with a quarter-mile visual range, vertical doors and a fingerprint-scanning biometric entry-system. Inside, you get a full-on cockpit with twin yokes, a centre-mounted throttle and a windscreen coated in a special film that provides night and thermal vision. You even get a couple of helmets, nitrous oxide and rockets in the boot, for goodness' sake.
The second modified car is the seven-shades-of-bonkers X-1 Mustang. This bad boy features a concealed motorised steering wheel controlled by a joystick. As if that wasn't crazy enough, they've also fitted a touchscreen monitor and a sensor pack that displays night and thermal vision. There's even a bloody ejector seat -- presumably so you can exit via the roof when you've hemmed yourself into a tight parking space.
Both cars were co-developed by Galpin Auto Sports, the official garage of MTV's Pimp My Ride. You can get a closer look and more deets by browing our photo gallery above.