Ah, yes, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Is this really true? I guess in some cases it is, and in other instances, nothing could be farther from the truth.

I'm applying this idea to the life that our Project Two-Valve Mustang GT has lived, from the day my wife picked it out among the few-hundred, brand-new, New Edge 'Stangs at Galpin Ford in August of 2002, to this morning, when I slid behind the wheel, turned the key, and heard its supercharged 4.6 come to life...

The '02, my wife's car, remained bone stock (OK, I did add 4.10 gears after two years, but that's it) throughout it's 3-year, 36,000 factory warranty period, and the only appearance upgrade it recevied was a billet, Bullitt-style fuel door.

Several years later, the "same" Mustang has experienced several iterations of naturally aspirated (throttle-body/CAI/exhaust) and power-adder (ProCharger P-1SC and D.S.S. SuperMOD 4.6/ProCharger F-1A) performance upgrades, suspension changes (Maximum Motorsports EVERYTHING), and wheels-and-tires packages (AmericanMuscle.com's 17"x10.5" deep-dish Bullitts; 17"x10.5" FR500s, and Nittos 555 Extreme Drag Radials and all-new NT05s).

I guess the saying really should be, "the more things stay the same, the more they change." When it's all said and done, the "same" 2002 GT that was the first dealer-brand-new car that my wife and I purchased together, has become radically different over the course of 4 years.

It makes me wonder "what's next" for the car, because like Big Steve often says, project cars are never really "finished" until you don't own them anymore.