CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' - Bo Webb - California Special
WhenFord announced the Mustang at the World’s Fair in 1964, its popularity was instant. Since then, it has gone through many variations, appealing to both collectors, street car enthusiasts and racers alike. One of the Mustang’s editions was the California Special or GT/ CS. In 1968, roughly 4,100 California Special Mustangs were produced. As one might guess from its name, the California Special was geared solely toward the
California market and was originally made available only to select Ford dealers within two specific California sales districts. Why, you ask? Simply because those two sales districts led the nation in sales of the Ford Mustang. The1968 California Special is more significant in automobile history then people may realize. This was the first “special edition” and “fully customizable” Mustang that Ford created and it paved the way for many others.
Ford’s Grabber Blue, one of our personal favorites, is arguably one of the most recognizable colors in the auto industry.
RACE PARTS 2
The car is 1 of 23 Grabber Blue California Specials made in 2011. When purchased Bo Webb’s GT/CS had 53,000 miles and served as his daily driver with 4 different combinations running mid 9s. The car currently has 159,000 on the clock.
Ford’s aim was the creation of a “Shelby” type car, at a GT price tag, so it might not have the big performance add-ons, but would definitely look the part. It would take another 40 years before Ford would re-introduce the California Special back into its lineup for the 2007 model year, and fast forwarding to 2022, the GT/CS is now being offered in several variations in many countries.
It was that history and leg-
acy of the California Special that ultimately led Carlisle, Ohio native Bo Webb into building his 2011 CS. Like most people taking up the hobby of horsepower, Bo’s love of cars started at young age, and watching NHRA drag racing and the legends of Funny Cars like Don Prud homme and Tom McEwen battle it out left a huge im pression on him through the 1970s on.
Bo originally wanted a fast daily driver that could run True Street type classes, but that eventually snowballed into what it is today.
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Once he was of age, he got behind the wheel and has been drag racing since the early 90s, winning a few matches in NMRA True Street.
”I have owned several old muscle cars including some Chevys,” Webb explains, “But my first Mustang was a 1982 GT and that’s what stuck. I have owned several Fox
Body cars; turbo, supercharged etc.” He was so heavily impacted by cars, Bo started working at a body shop in his twenties and did paint and body for 15-plus years before moving on to Duramax diesels at the dealership level and then landing in his current career in Powersports.
Bo Webb’s Limited Production Grabber Blue California Special Mustang makes a hit at the track!
Bo Webb’s GT/CS looks this good due to non-stop work since a wreck in September 2021 up to the Monday before the Norwalk race this year. On the dyno at BA Motorsports it made 4-digit power with the current setup.
“I do most of my own work and wrench on my close friend’s cars including being Crew Chief for Kelly Shotwell with his Limited Street car that we came in 2nd with, narrowly missing a championship in 2018, and now run in Renegade/Ultra Street.”
Bo purchased his California Special on Memorial Day 2015. He was looking specifically for a Grabber Blue Coyote car and wanted a 6-speed manual. “I was on my way to trade my 2008 Mustang GT in for a red 2012 when my friend found this one in an ad at a local Honda dealership. He pulled in and saw it in the back of the lot and noticed it was a glass roof car, and that sealed the deal! Webb enjoyed the new-to-him Mustang for about a month before he started adding parts, but had absolutely no intention of racing it at that point. “Little did I know my friends were purchasing their new cars and adding superchargers and turbos. So, as you can imagine it snowballed from there, meaning I would eventually get in on the fun!”
The Whipple 3.8-liter supercharger is a popular choice among Coyote owners. With the right setup, it can handle/make nearly 2,000 horsepower!
First came drag wheels and tires, a Boss intake and a nitrous kit and the car went 10.80 in Bowling Green at the NMRA World finals 2017 and Bo ended up winning the 11-second average in the True Street class. Then came suspension, a Roush supercharger and soon the CS was running consistent 9.80s, all while being driven daily. That wasn’t enough for Bo, though, as he then changed to a 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger, installed an 8.50 certified cage and several other gofast parts, and with that combination he won
the 10-second averages in True Street at Norwalk in 2021. Bo was really getting the hang of things and found some solid success in competition with the NMRA.
Fast forward to Sept 9th, 2021, a day Bo will never forget; “I hit a wall at a test and tune at a local track called Edgewater Motorsports Park and took out the driver side of the car along with the left front suspension, k-member and of course similar damage at the rear of the car.” The Mustang was rebuilt over the winter and Webb replaced all the damaged parts with new.
Bo Webb’s 2011 Mustang California Special
Body & Paint by:
Body Mark Merritts and owner. Paint by Casey Shotwell .
Chassis Modifications:
Factory frame with Tin Soldiers Racecars 8.50 cert 10-point cage installed by Jason Zimmers. BMR radiator mount with front sway bar delete, lightweight Steeda front bumper bar, Motion Raceworks parachute mount with Stroud 430 series parachute and Motion Raceworks Cleetus release handle.
Suspension:
Front suspension consists of BMR front K-member, Strange 10way struts and BMR GT500 drag springs. Rear is solid adjustable upper and lower control arms and pan hard bar, BMR lower control arm relocation brackets, BMR GT500 drag springs, BMR Anti roll bar, Viking Crusader shocks.
Engine:
5.0 coyote Darton sleeved stock block with oil squirter blocked off. Stock crank with Manley rods and pistons. Stock intake cams Boss exhaust cams. Accufab secondary chains, ARP hardware and MMR secondary tensioner bracket. Moroso oil pan and engine diaper.
Cylinder Heads:
Stock heads with PAC springs.
Induction & Fuel Delivery:
Rarefab 6in intake, Id1700x injectors, Whipple fuel rails with -10 feed and -8 return. Fore innovations fuel system with twin Walbro 525 pumps. Stock fuel tank.
Power Adder
Whipple Superchargers 3.8 with a 3.875 upper pulley and ATI 20% balancer. 10rib set up with MFP crank brace. Rhodes Race Cars 5gal trunk mounted ice tank with 1” to 16an feed lines.
Transmission:
Reid case TH400 built by Lonnie Diers at Extreme Automatics. Billet pro mod drum, Extreme Automatics reverse manual valve body with transbrake and 2nd gear leave, Circle D 4200 stall converter and twin Derale coolers with fans mounted under trunk floor.
Exhaust:
BBK 1 7/8 long tube headers, Borla 3-inch X-Pipe, Ford Motorsport Mufflers.
Weld 17in Alumastar 2.0 fronts with Mickey Thompson 27x4 17 SR tire. Rears are Weld 15x10 RTS S71 beadlocks with 275/60 15 Mickey Thompson ET Street R drag radial.
Interior:
Mostly stock with race seats and G Force cam lock 5-point harness. Rear seat delete, Stroud window net, MSD shift light, Transbrake button mounted to stock steering wheel and TCI Bandit TH400 shifter with carbon fiber console plate.
ET & MPH:
Best ¼-mile to date with busted transmission was 9.41 @ 151. Goal is mid 8s for the NMRA 8.60 index.
Thanks To:
My family for believing in me even when I had doubts. Casey Shotwell paint and all the help he has given me over the years. Kelly Shotwell for parts, help and support, Mark Merritts bodywork and Chris Tino for parts and support. Nick Purciello and Whipple Superchargers for helping me move to the 3.8 and Matt Coates at Main Force Performance for the custom blue anodized crank brace. Brandon Alsept at BA Motorsports for parts and dyno and Ken Bjønnes and Rob Shoemaker at Palm Beach Dyno for tuning. Chad Smith for parts and support and Heather Sourlis for sourcing parts for the rebuild after the wreck. Lonnie Diers at Extreme Automatics for transmission work, Chad Evans for setting up the rear gear, Michele Sweatt for supporting and believing in me and, of course, anyone and everyone that’s helped me along the way.
Body repairs were expertly completed by Bo along with Mark Merritts and paint work was done by Casey Shotwell. During the process, Bo decided to sell the 2.9 Whipple blower and, with the help of Nick Purciello and Whipple Superchargers, switched to the hefty 3.8 huffer to run the 8.60 index class. While at it, he added a crank brace from Matt Coates of Main Force Performance to help keep it all together under the more extreme pressure.
Chassis mods to the Stang include a Tin Soldiers Racecars 8.50 cert 10-point cage installed by Jason Zim-
mers, BMR radiator mount with front sway bar delete and lightweight Steeda front bumper bar. Suspension wise, a BMR front K-member was used with
10-way struts and BMR GT500 drag springs, while out back a fortified 8.8 rear diff is hung by solid adjustable upper and lower control arms and pan-hard bar with BMR lower control arm relocation brackets and anti-roll bar, BMR GT500 drag springs and Viking Crusader shocks. Knowing the type of boost that would be coming from the bigger supercharger, Webb made sure that the Coyote has all the right motor parts, without breaking the bank. The factory Coyote block was treated to Darton sleeves and the stock crank spins Manley rods and pistons.
Despite the addition of the racing seats and a few other accessories, the interior remains as it came from the factory. Soon, Bo will be considering and upgraded roll cage.
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The stock intake cams were kept, but Boss exhaust cams were added to the mix. Heavy duty hardware was used throughout and Accufab secondary chains were used along with an MMR secondary tensioner bracket. A Rarefab 6-inch intake was used to breathe copious amounts of air and feeding fuel are twin Walbro 525 pumps with Whipple fuel rails and Id1700x injectors.
A Reid-cased TH400 built by Extreme Automatics includes a billet pro mod drum, reverse manual valve body with transbrake and 2nd gear leave, Circle D 4200 stall converter and twin Derale coolers with fans are mounted under the trunk floor. His first race back in the game following the rebuild didn’t go as planned for Webb, though, as the existing transmission failed
My wins in True Street are certainly memorable but bringing the car back from the wreck into what it is now is a journey and lesson on not giving up or letting anything stop me from doing what I love… it has humbled me...
and he was unable to continue racing at the event and post that 8-second ET he knew was a sure thing. Of course, the natural law of building a car is “more power means more breakage”, in other words, adding the extra punch of the larger supercharger immediately found the weak link in the package, but Bo has addressed the issue with the new Extreme Automatics trans and will be back for the next outing.
While the California Special was initially only available in California, it did eventually make its way to other parts of the country (and world) for its second offerings and beyond. This particular GT/CS donned in eye-popping Grabber Blue may not be a California car, but with it being just 1 of 23 produced in that color for 2011, not to mention an 8-second capable tagged street car… it sure is Special!
NMRA’s 8.60 index class is new for 2022 and is slowly becoming one of the most popular categories in competition.
