Ford Bell X-1 Edition Mach 1 Mustang Concept Car

To celebrate the upcoming 75^th Anniversary of the first manned supersonic flight piloted by the legendary ‘Chuck’ Yeager in the Bell X-1 rocket-engined aircraft. Best Classic Customs in Melbourne, Australia has built a special one-off tribute concept car – the Bell X-1 Edition Mach 1 Mustang.

On 14 October 1947, the Bell X-1 aircraft hit Mach 1.06 (1,100 km/h [700 miles per hour; 610 kn]) becoming the first manned vehicle to break the sound barrier and forever etching the term ‘Mach 1’ as a symbol for speed.

Ford was the first manufacturer to associate the name to a car, applying the ‘Mach 1’ badge on a futuristic concept hovercar called the Ford Levacar Mach 1, that was developed in the 1950s.

The ‘Mach 1’ brand is now synonymous with the Ford Mustang, it was first used in 1967 on a Mustang Concept car before launching the first-gen Mach 1 in 1969… The rest, they say is history.

The concept of the Bell X-1 Mustang is the brainchild of Mark Piper from Best Classic Customs. Mark wanted to pay tribute to the story behind the name and the legend of Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1.

Mark started by developing some 3D concept renders of the Mustang with Matt Barnsley from The Render Garage to visualise his idea. This helped him fine-tune the bespoke vehicle graphics digitally to see how they would look with the new vibrant Tangerine Dream Metallic he wanted to use as the base colour. This striking orange pays homage to the iconic paintwork on the original Bell X-1 aircraft.

With the look of the car now sorted, the team at Best Classic Customs set about turning the renders into a reality.

Starting with a Twister Orange Mustang Mach 1 from Ford, the team stripped the car down in preparation for the transformation.

The car was wrapped in ORACAL® 970RA Premium Wrapping Cast Film, Tangerine Dream from Orafol and then had the unique matte metallic charcoal graphics installed.

The design of the bespoke graphics is inspired by the Boss 429 Mustang and feature a silhouette of the iconic Bell X-1 aircraft along with ‘BELL X-1’ proudly displayed under MACH 1 on the fenders.

There are a couple of benefits for going with a full vehicle wrap instead of a complete paint job, particularly for a concept car of this nature.

A wrap can completely change the overall look of the car quickly and if applied correctly like the team have done – you can achieve a near flawless finish with minimal or no joins, leaving you with a car that looks like its been completely repainted thanks to the high gloss finish and deep metallic flakes.

The wrap also offers protection to the original paint underneath, essentially sealing it in a time capsule and protecting it from stone chips and sun damage. So if and when the time comes to remove the wrap in the future it can be removed to return the car to its factory original paint and resold as an original Mach 1.

For more information on concept car development and 3D digital vehicle renders, contact Matt Barnsley from The Render Garage on 0401 558 033 or at www.therendergarage.com.au

About The Render Garage: The Render Garage are specialists in CGI / Digital Automotive Visualisations & Renders. They design, visualise and develop project & show cars, race cars, special edition cars & promotional cars.

Some special edition cars that they’ve helped create are Holden’s Project Monaro, The Chrysler 300 Pacer concept and the production vehicles as well as the special edition Holden TribUte VEII SS Ute.

For more information on the Bell X-1 Edition Mach 1 Mustang, or to discuss vehicle wrap & signage options contact Mark Piper at Best Classic Customs / Best Digital Signs on (03) 9872 5911 or at www.bestdigitalsigns.com.au

About Best Classic Customs & Best Digital Signs: Best Classic Customs is the vehicle modifying arm of Best Digital Signs who provide full service signage solutions to Melbourne and beyond, they’re a team of dedicated professionals that design, manufacture and install signage using state-of-the-art equipment and expert know-how.