Never take a knife to a gun fight? Yeah, well, on the surface that might seem to be the case here.

See, the Tickford 360 is one of the least modified of all the cars at Winton for this momentous occasion, so you can imagine that it’s gonna have its backside handed to it.

Where many of the other Mustang GT-based contenders have blowers making boost, the Tickford approach is rather more restrained.

Like the Tickford EcoBoost model, you can also add 20-inch wheels and tyres, firmer suspension packages and a bunch of interior glitz, but it’s those modest engine tweaks that set the mood for this car.

And when you break down the numbers, the thing acquits itself pretty well. Okay, the stock braking hardware means it’s nothing special in that particular sphere of endeavour, but even a Mustang on the standard stoppers hauls up better than some of the modded cars without enough heat in the rotors.

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What this all proves is that provided you’re starting with a good basic platform (which the Mustang undoubtedly is) you don’t necessarily have to spend up huge to make the thing a contender. What you need to do is spend that limited money in the right places, and that’s what’s going on here. Oh, and put a maniac like Luffy in the right-hand seat; a bloke who doesn’t need much help from the car itself to be rapid.

Again, when it’s Luffy at the controls, that probably doesn’t matter so much, and I’d be prepared to say that the gap between the really fast cars here and the Tickford would be greater with you or I doing the driving. Then again, the Tickford isn’t as confronting on a brute power basis, so who knows?

And if the 360 package isn’t enough for you, fear not; the operation has a Ford Performance/Roush blower kit in the works which promises no less than 500kW of power and 739Nm of torque.

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Frankly, I really liked the sound and feel of this here atmo tune and, for me – and for most other folks if they’re being honest – this would be plenty. Although maybe I’d tidy the chassis up a bit with a dash of extra firmness, but beyond that, this is very happy days.

WARREN LUFF SAYS:

“Like I said about the other Tickord, it feels like how it should have come from the factory. On track it’s a great car to drive without being too stiff.

“One of the things you see with tuner cars is they go too stiff with the suspension and it actually doesn’t help.

“At Winton, you need the car to have some compliance, some roll and some pitch to be able to get the best out of it and this car certainly does that well.”

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TICKFORD MUSTANG 360 POWER PACK SPECS

Power: 360kW Torque: 585Nm

0-100km/h: 4.95 seconds 0-400m: 13.09 seconds 80-120km/h: 2.9 seconds 100-0km/h: 38.0 metres Lap Time: 1:36.0 seconds Apex km/h: 83.53km/h Lap V-max: 186.40km/h 400m V-max: 180.52km/h

Engine: 4951cc V8, DOHC, 32v Gearbox: 6-speed manual Suspension: struts; anti-roll bar (f); multi-links, coil springs, anti-roll bar (r) Brakes: 380mm ventilated discs, 6-piston calipers (f); 330mm ventilated discs, single-piston calipers (r) Wheels: 20 x 9.5-inch (f); 20 x 11.0-inch (r) Tyres: 265/35 ZR20 (f); 295/30 ZR20 (r); Dunlop Sport Maxx GT

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PARTS AND PRICES

360 Power Pack: $7500 Exhaust/Diffuser: $3990 Wheels/Tyres: $4500 Suspension: $3990 Total Mods Cost: $25,990 Vehicle Cost: $59,990 Total Cost: $85,985