Image Credits: Andrew Casselberry, Ford Racing

One of the coolest cars at SEMA last week had to be the four-engine Mach IV Mustang dragster owned by Watsonville, California’s Gary and Jill Weckesser.

Not just your standard quad-engine dragster, this four-wheel-drive, four-slick-wearin’ bad boy was worked on and maintained by legendary southern California Ford dealership Galpin Ford.

From 1969 to 1975, the car was a popular attraction on the drag racing show circuit. It was built by Weckesser out of 4130 tubing and modified to fit the 1969 Sports Roof Funny Car shell as part of the stretched chassis. Of course, a standard Mustang nose wouldn’t work, so a stretched version was created to cover as much real estate as possible. 

The car, although it was created as a showpiece, actually raced against the Tom McCourry-piloted, Tommy Ivo-owned, four-engine Buick Station Wagon at Fremont Dragway in California.

Four Windsor engines are stuffed between the framerails, measuring a combined 1,404 cubic inches fed by an Enderle injection system and Joe Hunt’s Magneto ignition system. The engines are mounted back-to-back and run through a single-clutch that harnesses the power of all four wheels. 

The Mach IV on display at Galpin Ford. Image Credit: Jamie Allison, Ford Racing

The car was parked in the mid ’80’s as Gary, in order to feed his growing four-child family, took a job driving a big-rig.

Recently he has been active in restoring the machine with plans to run it again – a challenge that’s quite the undertaking after after nearly forty years of storage.

After SEMA ended last week the Mach IV Mustang headed west again, to be displayed as a unique piece of Ford history in the Galpin Ford showroom in California.

The car needs to be push-started, and has recently been making airport runway runs as the restoration and tuning sessions have been underway.

There’s absolutely nothing like 32 zoomie headers in your face.