1989 JBA Team Dominator Ford Mustang GTA. Foxbody Legend
Since 1SickLex decided to make some threads on classic Road and Track articles, i thought i'd get into the game myself since growing up, R&T was my favorite read at the super market.
One of the best issues included a shootout amongst a gathering of supercars of 1989. One car in particular would have a very special story before it entered the shootout. This was the JDA Mustang. It appeared on many covers alongside R&T.
Autoblog ....
The Fox body was hardly a high point in the history of the Ford Mustang. But every kingdom must have a king, and in the late-'80s and early-'90s this was it: the JBA Dominator GTA. Commissioned from J Bittle American by Ford in 1989, the Dominator took the pony car to new heights, installing what was likely the first independent rear suspension on a Mustang along with a long list of features that differentiated this custom muscle car from stock. The Lightning 351 engine features the iron heads from the GT40 and the intake manifold from a Cobra. A custom exhaust and aircraft-derived fuel system kept it breathing, while 17-inch rims obscured race-spec disc brakes at all corners. The list goes on and on, and during its reign, the Dominator received plenty of media attention. The Mustang was featured on the cover of Road & Track in November 1989 in a shoot-out against other factory-backed custom muscle cars and went on to star in various hot-rodding and Ford-specific magazines.
http://www.jbadominator.com/
March 1989
Road & Track Editor Garrett Lai invites JBA to participate in an upcoming Road & Track "Special" issue titled "Supercars", 24 of the Worlds Quickest Cars. This invitation coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the Ford Mustang. J. Bittle was quick to capitalize on this and put a plan into action to be able to acquire, build and campaign a new Ford Mustang for this Silver Anniversary.
In no time JBA had responded to the invitation and began the daunting process of acquiring a subject car in time to build a competitive high speed challenger. The "Supercar Shootout" was scheduled for April 23rd, 1989. Less than 30 days!
Ford Motor Company pulled a few strings that allowed JBA to acquire a new 1989 LX Mustang from existing inventory at San Diego's Drew Ford. Their was just not enough time to wait for Ford's Fleet department to ship a car from the factory.
March 30th, 1989
JBA takes delivery of a 1989 Ford Mustang LX Sport. VIN#1FABP41E8KF178914, Ford Tag # 042D962. A $1 payment was made to allow title transfer.
April 1st, 1989
JBA immediately began installing the HD suspension components the Dominator would require. Like any "Supercar" program JBA contacted every vendor and friend for support with the Team Dominator program. Here we have a copy of the letter sent to Susan Bogan in the Marketing Department at Keiper Recaro. The high performance front seats and matching rear seat are still in perfect condition today. Matching material covers the accent in the center of the door panels as well.
(For a more detailed equipment list review the Dominator GTA "Powertrain" page)
April 3rd, 1989
JBA began body construction of the modified fenders, hood, front end, rear valence and deck lid. The Cabernet Red Original Color was replaced with 1988 Ford Merkur Red.
April 10th, 1989
Road&Track magazine (Diamandis Communications Inc.) sends a confirmation of invitation acceptance to JBA. At this point the Dominator GTA was tentatively named "Supercar" and the Road&Track special issue was being referred to as a "Book on tuner cars".
April 11th, 1989
Dorthy M. Mack of FORD Motor Company's Transportation & Special Programs sends a letter to Joel Glatte at Drew Ford in San Diego CA thanking him for relinquishing the subject vehicle to assist with the Road&Track / 25th Anniversary promotion.
April 17th, 1989
The Dominator returns from Paint and Body to the JBA assembly room where the roll cage, interior, gauges, engine, fuel systems, exhaust system and drive train were installed.
(For a more detailed equipment list review the Dominator GTA "Powertrain" section)
April 22nd, 1989
On the morning of April 22nd 1989 the JBA Team Dominator GTA roared to life. Finishing touches were worked on until 4:00pm when the Team then departed for the test. Road&Tracks "High Speed Shootout" was set to take place at Nissan's 5.6 mile 35 degree banked test track center in Stanfield, Arizona. The 6 hour tow from San Diego put the Dominator GTA and the JBA team in Stanfield at about 10:30 pm. At that point the Dominator was unloaded and some final tuning and adjustments were made.
April 23rd, 1989
The test began at 7:00am. Road&Track arranged for Steve Millian of IMSA GTP fame to drive each of the 14 participants cars. The program was one warm up lap, one hot lap and one cool down lap. Each participant was able to get in two runs. The JBA Dominator GTA recorded a speed of 173 mph on the first run and 175 mph on the second run. The fact that the second pass occurred at 11:30am in 98 degree heat and that the Dominator ran trouble free made this maiden test phase a huge success.
May 9th, 1989
JBA issues a press release announcing the success of the JBA Dominator and a personalized thank you letter to all those who participated in the Team Dominator program.
Click here to read the rest of the story
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Originally Posted by John@Z1
