Blown Income

            Phil Banks is a successful commercial contractor whom I’ve known ever since our daughters were in middle school together.

            Being that Phil enjoys doing things with his hands, it was no surprise that he also likes restoring cars. “I fix them up and give them to the girls,” he said, referring to his two daughters.

            When it came time to begin work on a car for his youngest daughter, Shelby, who is now about to enter her senior year in high school, Phil had a good idea what he was looking for. Since he had always liked the lines of the 1969 cars out of Detroit, that’s where he started.

            “I originally thought of a Camero Z 28,” he said but since he thought he might end up tubbing it and didn’t want to cut a Chevy, he ended up with a 1969 Ford Mustang 350.

            “It started out that it was just going to be a paint job,” he said, then laughed and added, “It became a frame off restoration.”

            And some restoration it was. While racer Steve Saleen is one of the most well-known manufacturers of high performance Mustangs, Phil’s version can most likely give them a run for their money. It took until April, 2010 to complete but it’s now up and running and explains the name he's given the car, "Blown Income."

            He took a ’69 Ford 355 V 8 and added a 671 blower and twin 750 carbs all pushing through a TH400 transmission. And it all rides on 15” dragster rims. Oh yeah, he also added a nitrous blower just in case.

            “I’ve run it at 120 and it had plenty more,” said Phil of how fast he’s driven the car. “That was plenty enough for me,” he added with a laugh.

            While this car could get you to the grocery store and back very fast, it’s not the most practical car to drive around. “It gets about five miles to the gallon; two when I’m really driving it,” Phil chuckled. Then he explained that he uses 115 octane fuel that costs about $8.50 per gallon.

            The car is painted tangerine pearl with yellow sunset in the background and has what can only be described as a killer sound system that features a Pioneer deck, Alpine amp and Infinity speakers. The sound system has to be loud to be heard over the roar of the V 8.

            Though right now, Phil is still the car’s primary driver, this gem does belong to Shelby. “I’m teaching her how to launch it,” he said with a smile. And no, they’re not running it on any local quarter mile drag strip. “We just go out to one of these rural roads that doesn’t have anyone on it,” he added with a devilish twinkle in his eye.