"I like the thought of opening the hood after dusting someone and saying, 'It's just a little 289.'" --Dominic Greco
There is a wicked smile on Dominic Greco's bearded face as he asks, "Want me to do a burnout?"
Dominic is an anomaly as a vintage Mustang owner. We've run across many owners who strive for concours perfection, right down to the correct date-coded hose clamps, and we've seen plenty of others who prefer function and performance over originality. Dominic wants both for his '65 GT fastback.
"I didn't want to change the car's appearance," Dominic explains as he admires the twin piles of rubber on the pavement after his cover-shot burnout. "All of the updates were made to modernize the car without changing its persona. I've never been a 'bling' person and the thought of opening the hood after dusting someone and saying, 'It's just a little 289,' rang through my head. Staying true to this throughout the build has impressed more people than making it an in-your-face type of restomod."
There are more than 70 hidden modifications in Dominic's fastback, and until you look closely, it's hard to spot any of them. What looks like a nice little '65 GT fastback is actually a beast in disguise, powered by a 352ci stroker dressed like a concours 289. You certainly don't expect to see smoke billowing out of the rear wheelwells of such a stock-looking '65 Mustang.
Lured by the Silver Blue color and matching Pony interior, Dominic bought the fastback in 2004 after a five-year quest to obtain the car from its original owner. "It was nearly rust-free," Dominic says. "And all of the original parts were there. It even had the '65 Mustang trailer hitch that was available as a Ford accessory."
For the next six months, Dominic drove the unrestored Mustang almost daily. Then someone backed a Blazer into the rear end, crushing the rear quarter-panel into the tire so tightly that Dominic was forced to use the jack to pry the sheetmetal away so he could drive the car home. That's when he hatched his plan to restore the car with a twist: He would add modern performance, only you wouldn't be able to see it.
Dominic relayed his vision to Chris Dobbs at Hot Rods and Restorations, then in High Springs, Florida, just up Highway 441 from Dominic's Gainesville, Florida, home. He had admired Chris' paint work on other Fords at the Silver Springs Mustang & Ford Roundup and figured Chris was just the guy to help him build the fastback into a stealth flyer. For 11 months, Chris applied his restoration expertise while Dominic took care of the mechanical aspects and guided the build toward his vision of a stock-appearing fastback with enough power to burn down the hides. From time to time, Bob Cornelius jumped in to help, and Dominic acknowledges "Logan at National Parts Depot's Gainesville store for pointers and parts advice."
"From day one, I let Chris know that all of the original colors and coatings would be used," Dominic explains. "As parts were added, we would paint, blend, or hide them to make the car look as original as possible. We went to great lengths to remove powdercoatings, glass bead, and use paint remover to make the aftermarket parts look stock."
After storing the original engine and transmission, Dominic rebuilt a Falcon 289, boring the cylinders to 0.060 over and dropping in a 3.40-inch stroker kit for a well-hidden 352 ci. The cam is a retrofit roller from Competition Cams. For improved breathing, the Windsor heads were treated to CNC-porting, along with added durability with screw-in rocker studs, bronze guides, and chrome-moly exhaust seats. In preparation for a concours look, the block and heads were painted black, like all 289s in 1965. To clear the roller rocker arms, Dominic modified the baffles inside the factory 289 valve covers and bolted them on using 1/4-inch rubber-on-steel gaskets for added height. They were then painted gold, again to match Ford's original color scheme for '65 289 four-barrel engines.