Some people go a long way to put an IRS in a Mustang.

If you’re looking for a way to make an early Mustang handle, there are two ways to do it. You can spend thousands on suspension upgrades that may or may not help, and then add thousands more for modern brakes. Even more if you want to replace the live axle with an independent rear suspension.

Or, you can do what the maker of this car did. Turn your Miata into a Mustang.

It’s for sale at John Kufleitner’s Galleria of Vintage, Classics & Pristine Cars in Salem, Ohio. The dealer doesn’t give many details about the how or the why or the who of how this Miatastang (Musata?) came to be, but the pictures say a whole lot.

It’s a 1997 Miata chassis. That’s the first-generation of the Japanese sports car.

Then the body of a 1965 Ford Mustang was grafted on in some sort of automotive Frankenstein’s Monster. Dubbed the M1stang, whether or not it’s a beauty or a beast depends on the angle, the state of the roof, how much of a purist you are, and how much you’ve had to drink that day.

Under the hood is still the 1.8L engine from the stock Mazda. That makes 133 hp. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s more than any of the inline six engines Ford offered in 1965. It also has the communicative chassis that the MX-5 is famous for and it probably weighs the better part of 800 lbs less than the Mustang did.

This one isn’t for everybody – although I kinda like it – but if it’s for you, it seems like a deal for the amount of work that went into it. It’s probably the best handling first-generation Mustang body anywhere, and a 5.0L V8 is a fairly straightforward swap. Do they make Torq Thrusts in a 4×100 bolt pattern?

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