1998 Ford Mustang GT, Fuel Curve

1998 Ford Mustang GT – Progress Not Perfection

San Mateo, California’s Chris Peters isn’t your average Mustang GT guy. He won’t obnoxiously rev on you at the light unless you ask him to. He tends to stay in his own lane. While his stanced out 1998 Ford Mustang GT looks like it will rip your head off, he prefers form over function. Spending four or five grand on a supercharger kit wasn’t in the budget either. Normal factory aspiration was just fine with him for now.

1998 Ford Mustang GT, Fuel Curve

The fact he’s driving this car at all is somewhat of a miracle. A ten year stretch of drug abuse and all that comes with it derailed him and cost him several other Mustang GT’s he’d lost through the downward spiral. But thanks to supportive friends, family, some structure, and recovery, he’s now able to enjoy the benefits of getting back on track and has been clean and sober 12 years now.

1998 Ford Mustang GT, Fuel Curve

He wasn’t actively looking for another Mustang GT. That made the surprise all that much better when his wife Cynthya surprised him with this black 1998 Ford Mustang GT as a Christmas present in 2012. It was a gift which symbolized their new clean and sober direction in life.

Together, he and Cynthya have six children and five grandchildren so performance mods come only when there is some loose change lying around after the family needs are met. Lots of times, guys have to hide the cost of performance upgrades from the “boss” but not Peters. Cynthya is every bit as much of a gearhead as Chris is but they carefully plan their mods bit by bit. Quite honestly, they’re some of the most responsible next gen hot rodders we’ve come across.

1998 Ford Mustang GT, Fuel Curve

Their Mustang looks downright evil. Its bite will eventually measure up to the bark. For starters, stance and sound were really all that mattered and when you bolt up a BBK X-pipe and a set of Spintech Super Pro Street mufflers, that stock K & N cold air-filtered 4.6 liter V8 sounds damn good. In fact it thunders.

It’s quicker off the line than most other ’98 GT’s thanks to 3:55 gears inside a Ford Performance girdle. Forward motion is made easy with a Hurst short throw shifter. Handling and stance were vastly improved thanks to Koni orange street struts and H&R lowering springs. Throw in a Maximum Motorsports panhard bar, subframe connectors and castor/camber plates and this pony corners like a boss. Staggered XXR 531 wheels (18×8.5” and 18×11”) shod with sticky Nitto NT555 245/40 and 285/40 tires.

The stock paint has your average 20-year-old patina but being black it’s no biggie at all. In fact, it adds character if you ask us. The swapped out fiberglass hood is wrapped in vinyl carbon while silver LeMans hash marks add road aesthetics as does the ’98 Shelby Cobra front bumper. A Saleen S351 rear wing only adds to the curb appeal. Finally, the 8K HID headlights & foglights with new housings make quite an impression when he rolls up behind you.

1998 Ford Mustang GT, Fuel Curve

Perhaps best of all, the Peters’ street machine is driven daily. His coworkers (and grandkids for that matter) can hear him coming from two blocks away. Instead of ridiculous revs, this wild horse serves up primal and deep rumbles.

Since Henry Ford mass produced the Model T after the turn of the century, the American automobile has symbolized freedom. Thanks to a change in direction twelve years ago, both Chris and Cynthya Peters are now freer than ever.

1998 Ford Mustang GT, Fuel Curve