Regan McLaughlin - 1988 Ford Mustang GT
Story by Adam Gordon
Photography by Benny Jack (@bennyjvck)
There’s a skateboard hanging on Regan McLaughlin’s wall with a Foxbody drawn on it—neon tones, arcade-style glow, and a little bit of food-court chaos.
It sat there for four years, equal parts vision board and unfinished business. Long before that drawing, there was a fence line and the sound of Mustangs ripping up and down the road beside his childhood home. A local tuning shop handled Foxbodies, and McLaughlin couldn’t help but notice. Cold starts, throttle blips, street pulls, and the smell of high-octane fuel set him on course early.
Through college, he rotated through Foxbody Mustangs the way most people rotate daily drivers. Some were restored. Some were flipped. A few were so clean they felt like museum pieces. The right starting point had just never shown up.
Until it did.
Scrolling Marketplace in a drivethru line, Regan bought an unfinished Barra-swapped 1988 Mustang project a couple of states away. By the time the transporter dropped it off, optimism had turned sour. The naturally aspirated 4.0-liter Barra that was supposed to be the highlight barely ran. His wife laughed, and his son asked why he kept buying “pieces of junk.” At the time, that felt like a fair question.
For three months, the garage lights stayed on late. The sketch came off the wall and into sheet fiberglass. Much of the work happened right there, with McLaughlin building the car largely himself inside that same garage. The car that arrived looking like a lost cause slowly reshaped into what he had imagined years earlier. He dubbed it TimeFox, which makes sense once you see it.
The styling pulls from multiple eras at once.
The body is altered by 7-inch-wide fiberglass fenders with the factory GT moldings carefully blended in, so the car still reads “Foxbody” at a glance. Up front, an E36 M3 bumper is molded into the Mustang’s nose. Out back, a Lancer Evolution wing sits above original Mustang rear window vents. A custom ABS aero package ties it together, along with a paint scheme of colors that feel lifted straight from an ’80s arcade carpet. Clear one-piece lights with HID conversion, an FDF hood scoop, and an Opt7 Bluetooth LED system add some controlled glow.
Underneath the aesthetic is a fully reworked drivetrain. The refreshed combination now centers around a turbocharged Ford Barra inline-six running a PSR 3576 T51R-mod turbo on a 6Boost high-mount manifold, all controlled through a Haltech Nexus R3 system with IC7 digital dash and keypad controller. A full Deatschwerks fuel system feeds the setup while power runs through a QuickTime bellhousing and McLeod Racing clutch into a Tremec TKX transmission. Feal 441 coilovers and Maximum Motorsports rear control arms handle suspension duties, while 18x10 SVE Saleen-style wheels wrapped in 265/35R18 Accelera tires fill the widened arches.
On boost, the Australian inline-six delivers exactly what the internet promised: violent acceleration and a soundtrack unlike anything Ford ever installed in a Foxbody.
Inside is where the thesis becomes obvious. Blue plaid Icon seats match the blue-stitched NRG steering wheel. Fresh carpet and trim reset the cabin. There’s a Game Boy functioning as a digital speedometer, along with a fully powered early-’90s cell phone mounted like it never left the era. A Pioneer Dolphin CD player feeds early-2000s Audiobahn subs and amplifier mounted in a custom enclosure. Even the shift knob labels fifth gear “Bye Felicia.”
It’s half period-correct, half tongue in cheek, but entirely intentional.
The nostalgia is palpable, blending late-’90s tuner culture with the neon glow and playful chaos of the 1980s that first inspired McLaughlin’s sketch years earlier.
TimeFox isn’t trying to be the world’s cleanest Foxbody, or the most powerful. It’s trying to make you remember something: the mall, the first CD you bought, the sound of dial-up, the glow of a handheld screen in the back seat at night.
Regan McLaughlin didn’t just build a Mustang.
He built a time machine.
Originally featured in PASMAG Issue #184
Click here to order PASMAG #184 - DOUBLE ISSUE: East Meets West + Audience Choice Awards.
ESSENTIALS
VEHICLE:
1988 Ford Mustang GT
OWNER:
Regan McLaughlin
SOCIAL:
IG: @timefox88
ENGINE:
Ford Barra 4.0L inline-six + PSR intake manifold + PSR 3576 T51R-mod turbo + 6Boost high-mount manifold + TiAL external wastegate and blow-off valve + Haltech Nexus R3 engine management system + Deatschwerks fuel system
EXHAUST:
Vibrant Performance exhaust components
DRIVETRAIN:
QuickTime bellhousing + McLeod Racing clutch + Tremec TKX transmission
CHASSIS / SUSPENSION:
Feal 441 coilovers + Maximum Motorsports rear control arms
WHEELS / TIRES / BRAKES:
SVE Saleen replica wheels - 18x10 + HaloBLK HaloDisc setup + Accelera tires - 265/35R18 + 2002 Mustang PBR brake upgrade
EXTERIOR:
Custom 7-inch wide fiberglass fenders with GT moldings blended in + BMW E36 M3 front bumper conversion + Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution rear wing + Mustang rear window vents + FDF hood scoop + Custom ABS aero package + Clear one-piece headlights with HID conversion + Custom multi-tone paint scheme + Opt7 Bluetooth LED lighting system
INTERIOR:
Icon blue plaid seats + NRG blue-stitched steering wheel + Reversion Raceworks dash bezel + KDezines rear seat and hatch delete kit + Harnesses and harness bar + Opt7 interior LEDs
AUDIO / MOBILE ELECTRONICS:
Haltech Nexus R3 VCU, IC7 digital dash, and keypad controller + Pioneer Dolphin CD player + Game Boy digital speedometer + Early-1990s car phone + Custom subwoofer enclosure + Audiobahn subwoofers and amplifier
SHOPS / INSTALLERS:
Mez + Zack D. + Mackielec Industries + BW Tuning
SPONSORS:
Haltech + Barratheworld.com + Deatschwerks + Reversion Raceworks + CarChainz3D + HaloBLK
PHOTO CREDIT:
Photography by Benny Jack — @bennyjvck
GALLERY
