“It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.” Just about every movie, T.V. show, and book about the MOB has featured that line and that’s what drew Mike Knowles’ interest to an era of American crime and business beginning in the 1920s.
Knowles has turned his fascination with the Old School Mob into a 240 M.P.H rolling piece of art. With the help of Tim McAmis Race Cars and Justin Spencer of Tyrant Productions, Knowles has come up with one of the most unique and most detailed race cars of all time.
“I enjoy the history of the old families. The organizational skills they had and the respect they showed each other, without letting personal feelings get in the way, is really inspiring as a business man,” said Knowles from the offices of Knowles Enterprises in Grand Junction, Colorado.
“Don’t get me wrong. They did plenty of bad things but, the way they ran their businesses was fascinating,” he added.
The 1967 Mustang features a Velocity Composites lightweight body that is dressed to the nines with an extensive and elaborate paint scheme applied by Jeff Hoskins of Lake Road Rod and Customs, along with world-renowned artist Chuck Buckler of Banshie Studios, located outside of Washington, DC.
The design features Old Vegas on one side and the Prohibition era on the other. The deck lid features the “Mob’s Greatest Hits”. There are custom touches both inside and outside of the car featuring famous Mob quotes as well as fire bottles painted like dynamite. The car also carries Knowles’ famous “Blown Money” logo.
The machinists and fabricators at TMRC labored intensely over this project, creating many one-off features for this ride. A few examples are a knife handle for the fire bottle lever; the hand brake has Tommy Gun Grips, and a steering column that resembles a machine gun barrel. There are many more in-house touches from the team at TMRC that just have to be seen to be believed.
Fans will have their first opportunity to get an up close and personal look at the new “Blown Money” Mustang next March during the NHRA Pro Modified season-opening Gatornationals at Gainesville, Florida.
