From the September/October 2026 issue of Car and Driver.

At some point, just about every car lover out there will ask themselves the same question: “I wonder what it would cost to build an old car to new-car standards?” If you ask Revology, a company that specializes in ground-up, thoroughly modern creations clothed in vintage-Mustang apparel, the answer is somewhere in the ballpark of $300,000 to $400,000. There’s a reason that notion is usually left as a daydream.

Tom Scarpello, a former Ford employee who founded Revology, decided to answer the question himself by building the new old Mustang in his mind. Some restomods start as their true vintage originals before being broadsided by the Ship of Theseus, but Revology’s cars start from scratch. The bodies are new—just, you know, old looking—as are the bits and pieces beneath.

Does that make a Revology Mustang a classic car at all? We’ll leave the discussion of constitution and identity for philosophy class, but what we do know is that the company’s take on the 1970 Boss 302 is an absolute ripper.

Under the faux hood scoop is Ford’s fourth-gen Coyote V-8, a 5.0-liter making 460 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. Ford’s 10-speed automatic is standard, but buyers can drop another $4500 to swap in a Tremec T-56 six-speed manual, as on our test car. At the track, this 3845-pound steel-bodied beauty screamed its way to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds, continuing through the quarter-mile in 12.2 seconds at 118 mph. For context, the 1970 original needed 6.5 seconds to clear 60 and nearly 15 for the quarter, numbers on par with today’s turbocharged Subaru Outback.

Despite the manual’s tall gearing, redline beckons you like the Green Goblin mask, daring you to reach for it. Try it in second, and you’re already pushing the boundaries of good road manners at around 85 mph. Third gear is good for about a buck-twenty . . . and so is the speedometer.

As good as our Racelogic test equipment is, it can’t measure visceral responses, and a Revology car elicits them in spades. Press the start button, and at least three zip codes will hear the V-8’s basso profundo bouncing off every solid object. But wait until you get moving: Our microphones picked up a boisterous 81 decibels at a 70-mph cruise and an industrial-grade-fire-alarm 99 decibels under wide-open throttle.

And you must floor Revology’s creation, because there’s nothing quite like the stomach drop you get from a Coyote V-8 at 7500 rpm. Under acceleration, the 275/40ZR-17 Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires deliver a surprising amount of grip, provided you’re going over 30 mph. When they hook up, it’s just a matter of holding on.

The ride is comfy, but it’s not so soft that it wallows over freeway chop. At 0.92 g on the skidpad, Revology’s car stays true to the 302’s track-day roots. The steering isn’t drowned out by assistance; like unassisted steering, there’s heft when stopped that lightens with speed.

The brake feel is good, too, though the brake and accelerator pedals are perhaps a bit too close to each other if you have wide feet. The clutch is no heavier than on a modern sports car, with a takeup that’s easy to pinpoint, and the throttle is easy to modulate (or smash). The Wilwood brake system lacks anti-lock assist, but there’s a lot of stopping power on offer. Braking from 70 to zero measured a positively modern 175 feet.

You’d be hard-pressed to tell the body panels aren’t original. Revology’s Mustang looks like it fell straight out of an old Car and Driver issue (February 1970, to be precise). The interior mixes old and new harmoniously. The front seats lack headrests, but their bolstering and cushioning are as comfy as the chairs in any other new car.

We really dig the climate controls and their vintage-feeling sliders, as well as the partially digital gauges, which are recessed into the walnut-veneer dash. Behind a flip-up panel lies a Pioneer touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, though changing the volume requires a distracting level of precision.

Revology’s car is hand-built in Florida by some very skilled and smart folks, but it’s still subject to small-batch quality issues. In our test car’s case, the driver’s-side window never fully sealed, whistling in the wind above 40 mph, which we solved by rolling down the window. We imagine Revology would get these kinds of buyer issues sorted. Of course, the 1970 Mustang wasn’t perfect either, so consider it part of Revology’s pursuit of faithful re-creations.

1. Goodbye, leaf springs. A Ford 8.8-inch axle is located by three links, a Panhard rod, and a torque arm and supported by coil-over dampers.

2. A robust subframe-connection system strengthens the structure.

3. A carbon-fiber driveshaft sends torque rearward.

4. This cast-aluminum unit from Detroit Speed cradles the engine and anchors the control arms, coil-over dampers, anti-roll bar, and rack-and-pinion steering. The coolest thing? It bolts to the stock frame rails.