Rare FR500S Is No Trailer Queen, But a Corner Carving Machine
When it comes to car set-up, race preparation, suspension geometry and carving corners, there’s nobody that has it down like Kenny Brown.
Often imitated but never duplicated, it’s safe to say that one couldn’t have their car in better hands when it comes to getting a race car prepped to run at peak performance on the street or on track.
One particular car that is currently sitting in the Kenny Brown Performance shop is Cliff Glidden’s 2008 Ford Racing Mustang FR500S.
When Cliff and Kenny first connected, they were both unaware that Kenny had his hands on this same exact car before. Cliff’s FR500S is one of the three cars that Kenny engineered in the Mustang Challenge back in 2009 and 2010.
Be sure to join in on this week’s episode of Cars and Coffee on Saturday (10 a.m. EST), Kenny to talk about the car and also how to add power to your 4.6-liter 3-valve car.
Far from a rare garage queen parked in a dark garage to collect dust, Cliff drives his car on-track whenever he gets the chance. In fact, Ford Racing only made 77 of these cars with Cliff’s sporting number 44.
Purchased from a car collector in Phoenix who had three of these rare ponies on hand, the man was floored when Cliff revealed his plans for the car – race it.
Cliff has owned the car for a total of four years and has accumulated about 7,000 track miles since 2016. It has carved the surfaces at Laguna Seca, Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Buttonwillow, and Auto Club Speedway in Ontario.
With work done to the car by race shops along the Sonoma Raceway area before that was subpar before, Cliff knew there was potential for the FR500S to perform and handle even better on track.
While he was waxing the car one day, he started thinking about Kenny Brown and if he was still in existence. He made the call and that’s how the whole journey started.
After speaking with Kenny, Cliff knew that he needed to get the car shipped to Indy where Kenny can perform his magic and bring the car up to 2011 World Challenge specs.
This FR500S will receive a complete AGS 4.5 suspension upgrade as well as a Ford Racing top-end kit with CNC heads, camshafts, intake manifold, and throttle body.
Kenny has been there, done that, and proven himself as one of the best in the industry, and when Cliff's car is finished it should perform like a whole new animal. Cliff sent some photos to the car over, and Kenny recognized it the moment he saw just one photo of the door.
Now that the car is in the right hands, Cliff is excited to get the car back for some more spirited track days!
Kenny shares more details and the future-plans for Cliff Glidden’s 2008 Ford Mustang FR500S. Plus Tips on how to add power to your 4.6-liter 3-valve car. Check out Episode 39 for Q&As of this build.
Watch Cars & Coffee with Kenny Brown Live Every Saturday at 10 a.m. EST on Facebook or YouTube.
