If you find yourself asking, "What in the world is a Racecraft 420S?," you aren’t alone. Until now, the "Racecraft" name was used on the parts Saleen, Inc. sold through licensed dealers and in the aftermarket. These same parts are also used to build up the vehicles modified at the company’s plant in Troy, MI. Compared to the Racecraft cars – the 420S is the first one out of the gate, and is based on Ford’s Mustang – Saleens have more standard equipment and a higher price tag. Which means they appeal to a narrower slice of the market, and are more prone to the rise and fall of gas prices, and the dollar. Building a more raw, more elemental, more pure vehicle should bring a new buyer into the showroom and keep the assembly line rolling along, while bridging the gap between those that want to modify their Mustangs and those who can afford a bespoke creation.

The danger is that you can very easily end up with something that is neither fish nor fowl; a "bitza" (as in, "It has bits of this and bits of that.") not well suited to any mission in life. After all, a standard Ford Mustang has been developed to hit a specific set of targets and provide a balanced piece of transportation to the buyer. And Saleens are developed to hit a different set of targets, but to also do so in a balanced fashion. Plucking parts off the shelf – as many a shade tree mechanic has discovered – does not make you a tuner, or result in a vehicle that is balanced in any accepted sense of the word.

Thankfully, the parts used on the Racecraft 420S are derived from those found on Saleen’s own Mustangs. They also are bolted to the donor cars on the same assembly lines by experienced workers, and that eliminates much of the guesswork usually associated with tuner creations. So there is little worry that the Saleen Series VI twin-screw supercharger, dual-stage water-to-air intercooler system, 39-lb. (pressure not weight) fuel injectors, 98-mm mass airflow sensor, under-drive pulleys and damper, short-shift kit, nitrogen-charged struts and shocks, revised rate springs, new front anti-roll bar, upgraded front and rear disc brakes, or even the Bridgestone 275/40-18 tires on handsome silver five-spoke wheels won’t be screwed on tight or lined up correctly. And that proved to be the case with the 420S driven. It was as tight and solid as any Mustang fresh off the line at the Flat Rock plant.

With that concern out of the way, it was on to the next problem common to many tuned performance cars: everyday usability. Sure, these things can go fast (often only in a straight line), but ask them to do more prosaic things, like idle cleanly and keep your kidneys from bleeding when traversing rough roads, and they often fail miserably. At first blush, the Racecraft 420S feels just like a standard Mustang GT with larger wheels and tires, and a short-shift kit. Which is to say it is more fun to run through the gears (it’s amazing how much slop you otherwise would have missed is gone with this small change), and not that punishing on relatively smooth roads. In fact, if you don’t crack the throttle open too hard or too far, it is very tractable under most normal conditions. But, if you take the advice of a Southern friend and, “beat it like a bad dog,” everything changes.

I won’t hazard a guess as to just how quick the 420S is from 0 to 60, or what might be its terminal speed. But the extra torque (400 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm) give it a shove no stock Mustang GT could match and – with the help of a "cat-back" 2.5-in. performance exhaust system – a tone and a snarl that will turn heads. The extra 120 hp – a stout 420 at 5,800 rpm – make certain the power doesn’t dissipate as the revs rise. Unfortunately, there are very few places this much power can be used for any length of time without fear of spending quality time with the constabulary. And that’s a shame, as the experience of cracking the throttle and seeing whether you or the horizon get to some agreed-upon point first is quite addictive.

Should there be a need to intervene, the Racecraft front calipers do a stellar job of pulling the car up quickly with the confidence of a firm pedal underneath your foot. So the Racecraft can stop as well as it goes. It also acquits itself reasonably around corners, hampered only by the combination wide tires (9-in. in front and 10-in. in rear), firmer springs and dampers, and a live rear axle in a sporty car. That is to say, like a standard Mustang it has neither the total suspension travel nor independent wheel control necessary to allow the chassis to do anything other than crash over washboard surfaces or bound over bumps – especially those that appear mid-corner. That’s unfortunate, because the Racecraft tweaks to the suspension otherwise do not extract too high a toll for the improved response in less bumpy conditions.

Where the Racecraft 420S falls a bit short, especially considering its $39,995 base price, is in its appointments. True, that price gets you the deep front airdam, black vinyl hood graphic, and black vinyl rear deck graphic, but it also nets you a large rocker panel graphic that spells out "racecraft" in lower case letters. And while the taste police are split on this last item – this car really gets noticed in traffic – it would be nice if something more subtle was available as an option. Inside, a large red Racecraft logo replaces the Mustang badge in the center of the steering wheel, and the standard gear knob and shift gaiter are replaced by leather-wrapped items. Other than that, the interior is pretty much what you’d expect from a standard Mustang GT, right down to the clump of wires that touches the toes of your left foot when you move it from the clutch toward the dead pedal area. For the price, you’d think that someone could afford to zip-tie it out of the way.

But then this is not a tale of an exotic sports car or long-distance GT. It is a tale about a Mustang that has been modified in ways, and to a level, about which most enthusiasts of the model can only dream – including its 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. When viewed in this light, it’s a relative bargain.