Cars I'm currently very much into

With theSLRtour II starting in two weeks, I’ve never been more into the SLR as a car. Four years in, I’m finally comfortable with the fame and the exclusivity of it. I may act all chill, but it hasn’t always been chill. As much as I want to humanise the SLR, it’s still one of the rarest, most special production cars to exist. There is no denying that it’s made me anxious a couple of times. It has such an aura that my 960bhp 720S seems like the most reasonable daily choice compared to it. I get butterflies and nausea all at once. It hasn’t been all buttery and smooth; we had some bumps, but owning this special example has been a journey of a lifetime on its own. What a life! 

This doesn’t mean I don’t get to drool over other cars. Let me show you some examples of what I’m drooling over at the moment. I heard someone say “If your dream cars list doesn’t change often, you’re not a car person” - I totally agree. You probably see the SLR and think “Oh, another list with Koenigseggs and Paganis”. Wrong. 

Starting with my latest obsession:

03-04 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra Terminator

And more specifically with the Mystichrome appearance package. 

I’m a proud owner of a sixth-gen Mustang GT. I love Mustangs; it’s the first car I bought after I got my licence. They’re so basic and pure in an innocent, authentic way that it’s hard not to love them once you experience them. If you want a V8 sports car, stripped from all of the unnecessary nannies and electronics, nothing really comes close to owning a Mustang. 

But this isn’t just a Mustang. SVT stands for Ford’s Special Vehicle Team, which built it in-house. The heart of it came from Ford’s Niche Line, where two builders hand-assembled the Cobra engine. The supercharged 4.6l DOHC 32-valve V8 produces around 430hp, which means it’s fast even to today’s standards.

Ford, being completely aware of the Mustang customers, made sure it could handle double the power by forging the engine internals, which made it bulletproof. It was offered only with a 6-speed manual transmission. 

Usually, when people see an old Mustang, they immediately think of its solid rear axles (for a solid reason, pun intended). The SVT Cobra Terminator came standard with an independent rear suspension (IRS). This made it the most unique offering at the time. 

The Mystichome appearance package is the most famous option. It includes a “chameleon” exterior colour, which shifts between green, blue, purple, and black. The same “chameleon” paint effect was applied to the interior, which was treated with a special ChromaFlair chemical bond to achieve the iconic colour shift. Only 1,010 examples were executed in this package, making it one of the rarest options offered by Ford. An absolute 2000s masterpiece! 

The SVT Cobra Terminator was offered as a pinnacle of what muscle cars can be in times when muscle cars suffered a massive decline in popularity and faced uncertainty as a segment. And because it was undoubtedly one of the coolest things you can buy with money, the Terminator did not only revive the interest in muscle cars but continues to do so 20 years later. 

It’s still one of the coolest things you can buy with money. Why drive a Jesko when you can drive a Cobra Terminator?! YOLO! 

Sticking within the same universe:

the Mustang Saleen S281C 

It’s an absolute unicorn within the Mustang world. Only 29 produced, it’s as rare as a Mustang will ever be. “But it looks just like the SVT Cobra Terminator!” - it doesn’t, and I’ll tell you why.

It’s a coach-built project by Saleen - the same Saleen that built the S7! They took the Cobra Terminator and made it better with custom aerodynamics, racing suspension, and a touch of premium feel that factory-built Fords simply don’t have. The IRS suspension in the Cobra Terminator was already competing with the fastest offerings from Europe; the S281C came with a custom-tuned IRS Racecraft track suspension. The power output stays the same as the Cobra Terminator. The biggest change happened on the outside - with an aggressive fascia, extended side skirts, the distinctive Saleen rear bumper with a centre-exhaust exit, and Saleen graphics on the doors, making sure everyone around you knew you’re in the unicorn. 

Due to its rarity, the chances of getting one are minuscule, but this doesn’t prevent me from dreaming about it. Who knows, right?! I ended up with the most famous SLR in the world; you never know! 

The first gen Mustang Fastback Code K 

That’s the one that you and I want. The one we picture in our heads when we hear the name “Mustang”. Let’s talk about what makes the picture-perfect first gen Fastback Code K the most collectible Mustang ever built. 

The Mustang debuted on 17 April 1964, and it was so successful that it created a new segment - the pony car. It was so desirable that it had models within the model, offering different body shapes, power, and transmission options. The Code K was launched in June 1964, as the ultimate Mustang you can buy- “K” stands for the highest-performing engine option available from the factory between 1964 and 1967. It came with the 289 cubic inch “Hi-Po” V8 engine - one of the most legendary small-block V8 engines ever produced. It cranked out 271hp and up to 6000+ RPM, and unlike the more “base” variants that made 200-225hp, it came with upgraded internal components. Basically - a high-performing, bulletproof engine! If you opted for the Code K, it was mandatory to get the dual exhaust. It also came with a bulletproof 4-speed manual transmission, a 9-inch rear differential, and a Performance Package. 

The engineering of the Code K was so robust that the racing legend Carroll Shelby used it as the exclusive foundation of the legendary 1965-66 Shelby GT350. It’s widely considered the reason for the Shelby Mustang to exist. We wouldn’t get Shelby as we know it if the Code K didn’t exist. 

The iconic Fastback body made the Code K an absolute legend. The Fastback debuted just a couple of months after the debut of the first Mustang. An immediate hit, everyone loved the styling. I love it, you love it, we all love it. 

Today, the Code K is celebrated as the ultimate expression of the first Mustang. A car that changed the course of the automotive industry forever. It’s also a highly collectible variant with only about 13,200 produced across all body styles. 

And I want one.  So, this is the current list. It's all Mustangs, I know. My days as full-time theSLRgirl are likely numbered, because my passion for them is too strong to ignore. I want to experience them all. theSLRgirl will continue to exist and I'll never stop sharing my love for the SLR, but I hope we can find place for my love for the car that started it all. Chances are very high one or more of the cars on the list will join the garage soon! I'll likely focus more on YouTube than on Instagram moving forward, providing the same unfiltered reality of car ownership you're used to! The SLR will be there, always, but you'll get a bigger, more in-depth picture of why I do it. Same independent tone, same me, just in landscape! Why the move? - Instagram is inherently shallow. It's algorithm-based and relies on virality of trends. I have successfully beaten the algorithm by producing posts with millions of views and thousands of likes. While this is great for theSLRgirl brand recognition, the bottleneck of casual scrollers that look for aspirational influencers to follow hits the channel hard. Because while the SLR is a status symbol, I never focus on aspirational content. It's not why I do it. And from a woman with a fancy car, the majority expects just that. So, the next time I post about how the carbon fibre monocoque extends to the rear end and I struggled to place a GPS device for my live map, I'll lose followers. Because they never followed me for this type of shit in the first place - see fancy car and a woman, hit a like, maybe a follow. I want to build a community. I have highly influential car people in my followers, people I look up to and top level McLaren people that have supported me since day one. The type of people who understand where I'm coming from and would do the same type of content if they had the car. I love you! But the sense of community I'm looking for is not existent on Instagram. Only YouTube is capable of giving birth to it. So, this is why. I enjoyed posting some viral content on IG, it's just not what I'm after. I don't want to be an influencer. I want to be a community builder.