BY JORDAN MORNINGSTAR

     The sweet smell of french fries wafts over the crowd outside the Pony Corral restaurant, as several hundred people settle into Winnipeg's first big cruise night of the year. Although most are wandering aimlessly, crowds start to form around some of the more extravagant
rides.
     A bright yellow '31 Chevy is attracting onlookers, as is a shiny red Ferrari 360 Modena parked in front of Uncle Wayne's DJ booth. The owner of the Chevy is bombarded with questions while the Ferrari's driver stands back and watches people drool on his Italian sheetmetal. These are the kind of car guys whose vehicles are meant to grab attention. They're the hot rodders who wanted something different and got it by being big, bold, and flashy.
     Paulo Calisto isn't that kind of hot rodder. Paulo's ride is the Aston-Martin silver '65 Mustang fastback, a colour so subtle it can almost be called "metallic grey." Paulo's friends gather around, and they're followed by a few people who get close enough to notice the grey leather interior, more perfect and complete than most new cars. More onlookers start to wander over, prompting
Paulo to open the hood. This is the precise moment that every person in the crowd gasps and realizes they've stumbled upon their new favourite car.
     A naturally quiet and laid back guy, Paulo doesn't exactly give off a "look at me" vibe. However, that doesn't mean he's a conformist when it comes to his wheels. So when it came time to find something for cruise nights like tonight, taking the road less travelled was his only choice.  That road lead to a '65 Mustang Fastback. "Everyone else was going for '67's" Paulo explained. "The '65 is harder to find... it encouraged me more." Once a suitable platform was found, the challenge was only getting started. "I had to take apart more than I wanted to because of previous bad work to it." By the time it was done, the entire back end of the car had to be replaced.
     Once the gleaming bodywork was complete, it was time to find some motor-vation. That came in the form of a cast-iron 331 cubic inch V8.  "I'd seen it on the track, and heard they make tons of power" says Paulo. "Besides, everyone else wanted 347's" and the smaller cubes gave him another opportunity to stand out from the crowd. If that wasn't enough, he also bucked the new trend towards turbochargers and installed a Vortech centrifugical supercharger. This feeds into a Holley intake manifold, with the go-juice mixed in through 50-pound injectors. Forged pistons squeeze the air/fuel mixture before it's sparked off by an MSD ignition system. In the end, the motor is cranking out between 750 and 825 horsepower, depending on the boost.
     All that power is fed to the ground through a C4 automatic and a Ford 9" rearend with 3.77:1 gears.  However, the grey pony has more than just brute force and good looks; a smooth ride is taken care of with an A-arm front suspension and a -link setup in the rear. Rolling stock consists of BFG G-Force T/A rubber wrapped around 17" Billet Specialty rims. When it's time for the big meats to stop rolling, Wilwood disc brakes on each wheel brings everything to a halt.  Inside, the car takes on a more discerning taste.
     The racing seats and door panels are wrapped in grey leather, with only the console and dashboard devoid of cow skin. Auto-meter Sport Comp guages help keep an eye on the vital signs, while a B&M pistol-grip shifter occupies the console. In order to compete with the big motor's equally big sound, the stereo is upgraded with a pair of subwoofers in the trunk.
     Despite the fact that the project came together in only a year and a half, this Mustang has been much longer in coming. You see, Paulo is a Mustang guy at heart, and he had been planning the style of this pony car well before it came together. "I bought my first one when I was 15, I just liked'em." And although Paulo is careful to admit what makes the grey beast roar, his eyes light up at the chance to explain this car's simple goals. "I wanted it fat & low... Racey-looking, like
it would be fast at the track."Looking at the car now, that goal seems more like an understatement.