Flashback of 1976 Ford Mustang

This achingly beautiful Mustang was the most intriguing car on Ford's SEMA show stand. The profile may look 1967 'Stang, but key panels such as the bonnet and rear end are an all-new design. For this car, called the Flashback, is a hybrid mix of '60s and naughties style, and contemporary mechanicals.

It's a fascinating story. Ford has licensed a company called Dynacorn to manufacture replica bodyshells of the 1967 Mustang indeed, a replica '67 GT sat alongside the Flashback on the stand. Customers can then kit out the body with the latest Mustang mechanicals.

So the Flashback runs the 2007 Shelby Cobra Mustang's supercharged 5.4-litre V8, kicking out 600hp. No '60s Mustang could dream of producing such grunt, or channel it to the rear wheels via a six-speed transmission, or have six piston brake callipers clamping the discs behind 18-inch wheels. Modern air conditioning and electronics complete the package.

Can you buy one? Yes, some 30 are in existence already. But this particular spec will set you back $195,000. Not surprising, because the Flashback is totally bespoke, even down to its LED tail-lamps and $10,000 Sherwin Williams Planet Color Pearl Blue paint. The Flashback was pieced together by a Michigan firm called Classic Design Concepts.
The mastermind behind the project was Dennis Mondrach, Ford's restoration licensing and performance parts manager. He did the deal with Dynacorn to produce the replica bodies, one of which you can see in this picture, dangling above the Fastback. Mondrach also licenses tooling to make parts for vintage Fords, basically any cars dating back beyond the year 2000. He's the man who can help people get parts for legends like the Model T and Model A. And his next project could be to bring the '55 Ford Thunderbird back from the dead, by getting suppliers to recreate some pretty rusty tooling.

We think there's a business in this for Ford,

Mondrach told us.

Why buy a rustbucket from a breaker's yard with more holes than Swiss cheese, when you can get a modern car that has the beauty of the original?

The makers of the TV show Miami Vice, who had Crockett and Tubbs cruising the streets in a Corvette-based Ferrari.