1,699 Actual Mile Roush Blackjack Mustang 4.6L 5 Speed

Hardcore. This car was factory delivered wearing a set of fat 18-inch BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KD road-racing tires. It's powered by a supercharged and intercooled 430-horsepower V8. It has 14-inch brakes and a suspension set up for road racing. It cost nearly $60,000 when it was new. And it has the biggest name in Ford performance behind it: Jack Roush.

That's BLOODY hardcore.

According to the tag riveted to the radiator core support, this 2007 Roush BlackJack Mustang is #22 of just 100 built that year, all of them designed to Jack Roush's personal specifications. Jack himself took all the best pieces from his extensive line of Mustang performance parts, bolted them onto a sinister black-on-black body, and called it the BlackJack. Nothing escaped being massaged and upgraded: engine, suspension, brakes, wheels and tires, even the interior. This car isn't just fast, it's predatory.

Walking up to it, the first thing you notice is that this thing is really black. I mean, like it was painted with material from a black hole or something. There's a 21-inch wide matte-finish black stripe running nose to tail, and even though it's supposed to be subtle, it's subtlety that hits you like a hammer. The ten-piece body kit, which includes front and rear fascias, sill skirts, a hood scoop, a deck-lid spoiler, and window louvers, seems to pull the Mustang body closer to the ground like a tightly coiled spring. The massive 18-inch chrome forged aluminum wheels are the only concession to fashion, and it's a dramatic contrast. It's like the hit-man who wears Armani suits when he works somehow its even more twisted and diabolical.

For power, Roush added a Roushcharger supercharger system with a smaller pulley which boosts power levels of the 4.6-liter Ford V8 to 430 horsepower and 400 ft-lbs of torque. In the BlackJack, the Roushcharger system includes a polished Roots-style M90 supercharger, 38 lb.-hr. fuel injectors, Roush-designed intake manifold, intercooler assembly radiator and a custom Roush ECM calibration to optimize fuel and spark. Nail the throttle and that motor cackles like it has escaped from someplace where evil things need to be kept. Roush also saw fit to equip the car with their top-end Stage 3 suspension package, which swaps out the stock front struts, rear shocks, front and rear springs, front and rear sway bar, and jounce bumpers for Roush-engineered high performance versions.

Jack was also adamant about including their wheel hop reduction kit to help the rear wheel performance in low-traction conditions. This is the only wheel hop kit on the market with a minimal NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) hit and no reduction in bushing life. Other manufacturers trade off anti-hop for a lot of noise, harshness and poor durability of the joints. We said this car is nasty, not crude. The suspension is complimented by upgraded brakes all around. Up front, there are 14-inch 2-piece slotted rotors being clamped by giant 4-piston calipers, and slotted rotors have been added to the factory setup in back. The front calipers are bright red, more jewelry that lets you know this isn't a garden-variety Mustang, but something very special. Think of them as the leash that keeps the monster under control. It's a good thing they're really big brakes.

Inside, upgrades include charcoal leather seating with an embroidered Stage 3 BlackJack logo, white electroluminescent gauges, billet aluminum pedal kit, and a short throw shifter on top of the 5-speed manual transmission. Hell, even the shifter ball is inky black. The car comes standard with the Roush carbon fiber design dash trim kit and embroidered floor mats. The door sills have been upgraded, and there's a gorgeous Roush toolkit custom-fitted to the trunk lid. For added coolness, Jack Roush's signature glows on the dashboard every time you fire it up.

The last owner of BlackJack #22 probably kept it in a cage instead of a garage, since it has only 1,699 miles on it and is flawless in every way. The original owner's manuals, both the OEM Ford and the Roush supplement, as well as the Roush lug nut key are, of course, included with the car.

Roush cars are highly regarded because they are not simply collections of aftermarket parts. They are completely re-engineered machines built by someone who has been intimate with Fords and road racing for more than 30 years. They are limited-edition, purpose-built, hand-made pieces of automotive art that talk the talk and walk the walk. With a pedigree like that, it is hard to imagine that this car won't appreciate in the coming years, especially one as dangerously appealing as a first-year BlackJack. So if you're just into looking good as you cruise around town, don't buy this car. If you think it would be a pleasant car to use to commute to and from work, this is the wrong car for the job. If you merely want a nice Mustang, this is way too much car for you. If you're hardcore, however, this is EXACTLY what you need. Just don't piss it off.