“I wanted a Mustang since childhood,” Philipp Esslinger told me, “since I watched the movie ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’.”
Well, what Philipp actually told me was, “Lange rede kurzer Sinn ich wollte schon von Kindheit an ein Mustang seit dem ich den Film “Nur noch 60 Sekunden” gesehen habe.
Philipp lives in Germany, Bietigheim-Bissingen to be precise, which is very close to Stuttgart. I saw pictures of the Mustang that Philipp posted on Instagram (you can follow him at @67BlackStang) and I reached out to him about doing on article on GHR. He replied that he’d be interested, but was worried that his English might not be good enough.
Fortunately for me, my neighbor Michael is also from Germany. I asked Michael if he’d be willing to translate the emails to and from Philipp, and Michael agreed. And just like that, GHR has it’s second international hot rod.
“I bought my Mustang in November, 2016,” Philipp wrote. “I found the car on the Internet at Mobile.de.” Michael told me this is a very popular German website for buying cars, along with another site autoscout24.de.
Philipp purchased the car from a private individual near Munich who imported it from Florida.
”He sold Mustang only because he wanted to buy a Mustang convertible,” Philipp said. “I knew that Eleanor was a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback. It was clear to me that I wanted to have it. I saved and fulfilled my dream.”
Philipp had his 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback. His Eleanor.
Philipp’s ‘Stang has a 289 small block under the hood of with custom valve covers and air cleaner. The V8 is fed by an Edlebrock 4-barrel carburetor and sparked by electronic ignition. Headers feed the dual exhaust that has an H-pipe configuration with Flowmaster mufflers. An aluminum radiator keeps the engine temperature under control.
Take a look at the interior pictures Philipp has posted and you’ll note the 5-speed pattern on the shift knob. That’s for the Tremac transmission he’s got sitting behind the 289. There are 15” American Racing Torq Thrust wheels at all four corners with front disc and rear drum brakes behind them.
Philipp’s Mustang was originally green, but underwent a complete restoration and re-painted the gorgeous black color you see now. The interior also has had a complete restoration and looks fantastic.
Philipp told me that it’s pretty easy to get parts for the Mustang in Germany. There are many parts suppliers in Germany, and of course parts can also be obtained via the Internet.
In a conversation I had with Michael, however, he told me there are some significant challenges faced by hot rodders in Germany that we don’t deal with in the U.S. All cars in German are inspected for proper operation in all aspects – braking, handling, as well as emissions of course – no matter what year the car is. And if you hot rod your car, the modifications must perform as well or better than the original components. Aftermarket wheel and tire combinations must fit completely inside the wheel wells. If you want to build a hot rod in Germany, you’re going to have to earn it.
There may be different wheels or some small tweaks somewhere in the future, but the Mustang is probably going to stay pretty much the same as it is now.
“For me it is perfect,” Philipp wrote. “I enjoy my Mustang on the weekends and after work to escape the stress of everyday life. It’s just fun.”
Every hot rodder can understand that, no matter what language is used.
Du hast einen tollen Hot Rod Philipp!
You can follow Philipp on Instagram at @67BlackStang.
All photos courtesy of Philipp Esslinger.
Click here to see more photos of Philipp’s Mustang.
Garage Hot Rods 
So you forgot all that German you took in high school???😆
Lol! Yes! I did forget almost all of it. Fortunately Michael is here to bail me out.
Ausgezeichnet !