It’s not every day that a text from a friend leads to buying one of the rarest Mustangs ever made, but that’s exactly what happened to Vaughn Gittin Jr. While at home with his family, he received a message about a unique car for sale. It was an M81 Mustang McLaren, arguably the rarest Mustang and one of only about 10 prototypes ever built.

In 1980, Ford had the turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine. They wanted to race IMSA with something that could hang with the V8s. So, they reached out to McLaren, which planned to build 249 production cars for the public, but they canceled the project after completing a handful of prototypes. This car is number eight, and the only one they ever painted black.

The car is a time capsule of early 1980s performance. McLaren took the 2.3-liter turbo four-banger and blueprinted it to produce around 175 horsepower, a respectable number for the era. The exterior features an aggressive widebody, a unique front valance, and the bubble-back hatch from the Mercury Capri.

Gittin was drawn to the look, saying, “This is probably as close to as I’ll ever get something that looks like a Zakspeed car.” The interior is all business, with Recaro seats and a full complement of Stewart-Warner gauges.

For Vaughn, the car’s significance goes beyond its rarity. He sees it as a direct link to his work with Ford through his company, RTR.

“This car basically is what kicked off SVO, Ford Special Vehicle Operations, their Skunk Works,” he noted.He sees a parallel between this early factory-backed “skunk works” project and the special vehicles he develops with Ford today, making the car a source of personal and professional inspiration.

Unlike many of his other vehicles, Vaughn has no plans to modify this one. “I can’t molest this car in any way. I can’t do anything to it,” he stated definitively. His only plans are to perform some basic maintenance and install a new set of wheels and tires that will better fill out the wide fenders. For this rarest Mustang, its wild history isn’t over just yet. It has found a new home with a caretaker dedicated to preserving it exactly as it sits.