2013 OUSCI Preview- Alan Palmer's 1965 Ford Mustang

It has been a wild and hectic week for the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitatonal (OUSCI) Race Directors. They did their best to comb the 2,000+ cars and trucks on display at the 2013 SEMA Show and find ten that were willing and able to compete in the 2013 OUSCI, presented by Royal Purple and K&N Filters. After those announcements are made, the craziness shifts to the vehicle owners, many of whom had no idea they'd be selected to run their show vehicles at a racetrack the day after SEMA ends.

The result is that some owners or builders, who either left the SEMA Show or weren't planning on being here are now making their way to Las Vegas to participate in the OUSCI. With that in mind, we understand the information they provide on these vehicles may be limited, if they get the chance to respond at all, but we will be following up with the entire field after the OUSCI ends and we'll try to give fans a more comprehensive look at that time.

The first Golden Ticket vehicle we are previewing is Alan Parker's 1965 Ford Mustang. Alan Palmer of Palmer's Customs in Moorpark, California co-built the car with Scott's Hot Rods, but Alan will be handling driving duties. Palmer's Customs is a high-end restoration/customization/fabrication shop that has a fairly impressive resume, completing the fit and finish work on the 2008 and 2010 winners of the prestigious America's Most Beautiful Roadster award at the Grand National Roadster Show.

In 2011 they won the GM Design Award at SEMA for their 1959 Corvette "ZR59." The 1965 Mustang has a Scott's Hot Rods chassis and numerous body modifications. One of the major and most-obvious body modificationss is the roof being chopped an inch and a half. The engine is a 660-horsepower Roush 427, mated to a Richmond five-speed transmission. Wilwood six-piston brakes are hidden by BFGoodrich rubber, with 275-series tires in the front and 295-series on the back on 20-inch wheels.

Ryan Venturine is the owner of this Mustang, but has entrusted Alan with driving duties for the weekend, although Alan admits he has little to no racing experience, aside from the autocross at the Del Mar Goodguys show. Even if that is the case, with the reputation Palmer's Customs has in building show-winning vehicles, we expect the Mustang will be a contender in the Lingenfelter Performance Design Challenge.

Even though Alan's crew has never done anything like this in this car before and this will be the first time the car has been on a race track, they are confident it will show well on the track as well. They are very excited and honored to be a part of this event and we're really excited to have them join us. Alan responded to our e-mail as he was making his way to Las Vegas to drive the car, so the information we received from him was a bit limited, but it is obvious the car is one of SEMA's very best and that is what we are looking for in the OUSCI.

How will did it perform on the track? If you didn't see the OUSCI live, you can always go back and watch all the past TV shows for free on the OPTIMA Network on Roku.