The body is six decades old. The hardware is not. Ford Racing Parts arrived at the 2026 SEMA Show with a 1966 Mustang Fastback wearing black paint, gold wheels, and a powertrain built for modern drivability rather than seasonal carburetor maintenance. The R125 isn’t a restoration — it’s a demonstration. Ford Customer Service Division, Ford Racing Parts, and Ford Customization developed the build to show what their current catalog can accomplish as a complete, integrated system rather than a list of individual components.
What’s Under the Hood Settles the Carburetor Debate
The R125’s Boss-based small-block combines proven pushrod architecture with electronic fuel injection, trading carburetor complexity for the kind of cold-start consistency that makes a classic Mustang genuinely usable year-round.
The engine is a Boss-based small-block built to 347 cubic inches, rated at 360 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. Aluminum cylinder heads keep weight in check. Edelbrock Pro-Flo electronic fuel injection replaces the carburetor — and that swap arguably matters as much as the output figures. Secondary reporting on the build specifically highlights improved cold-start consistency and everyday drivability as the practical payoff, addressing the throttle response and livability compromises associated with 1960s fuel delivery.
Key build specs:
- 347-cubic-inch Ford Racing crate V8: 360 hp / 400 lb-ft torque
- Edelbrock Pro-Flo electronic fuel injection replaces carburetor
- Tremec TKX-600 five-speed manual; more compact and smoother-shifting than the outgoing TKO
- Limited floorpan modification required for TKX installation
- Ford Racing two-piece valve covers with interchangeable tops, O-ring seals, and integrated spark-plug-wire looms
The Tremec TKX-600 is worth examining separately. First-gen Mustang tunnels are tight, and the TKX’s compact dimensions meant the installation required only limited floorpan modification — a meaningful detail for anyone who has seen a targeted powertrain swap expand into a structural reconstruction. The exterior carries black paint with red and gold accents, R125 graphics, and gold wheels, all referencing Ford Racing’s 125-year heritage and Henry Ford’s 1901 racing victory. It’s anniversary branding that happens to look purposeful.
A Blueprint, Not a Brochure
The R125 exists to show builders how Ford Racing’s current parts catalog performs as a complete system — not to occupy a dealership showroom.
No dealership sells this car, and that’s precisely the intention. Ford Customer Service Division, Ford Racing Parts, and Ford Customization built the R125 to demonstrate how catalog components work together in a finished vehicle rather than presenting each part in isolation. If a ’66 Fastback is sitting on jack stands with a tired small-block, this build offers a concrete parts-integration reference. Worth noting: cabin specifications, suspension components, and braking hardware were not detailed in available reporting, so the full mechanical picture remains incomplete.
The restomod logic the R125 follows is straightforward — preserve the visual identity that made the original desirable, then modernize the components most directly tied to usability. What the R125 ultimately demonstrates is that updating a classic Mustang doesn’t require wholesale structural reconstruction. The shape stays exactly as it should. The compromises don’t have to.
