2017 Ford Mustang California Special – Jaime’s S-550

Jaime’s 2017 Ford Mustang California Special is an award winner wherever it goes. After seeing it in person, we just had to take a closer look by spending a few hours with Jaime and his cool car. This late model muscle car is a perfect example of a build that’s not overdone; sometimes less is more, folks.

Not every car has a long history, especially one that’s hardly been owned for a year. But every driver (or builder) always has a story, and it’s Jaime’s history that was one of our favorite aspects of this modified Mustang.

In our experience, you can always see a little bit of the owner reflected their car and Jaime’s California Special is no different. Jaime has a long history with lowriders, a background that won’t come as a surprise as you take in this clean S-550.

In previous years Jaime sold off his beloved lowriders to raise a family, certainly one of the only reasonable situations to do so! But after the kids grew up it was just a matter of time before another project snuck back into his garage.

The more shows he went to with friends, the more he wanted to pick up something for himself. He reasoned that if he was going to get another car, it wouldn’t be a full-on old school project, but instead something he could just get in and drive.

The opportunity finally presented itself in full on his way home from a show one day in his friend Robert’s first-generation fastback Mustang. Robert told Jaime he ought to drive the ’65 home himself, and Robert would ride shotgun.

Behind the wheel of the old pony car, we’re guessing Jaime went back in time to the gold old days when he was cruising lowriders and building cars. There actually isn’t much guessing on our part here, because he drove the fastback straight to a local Ford dealership.

After going for a drive in brand-new Coyote-powered proper 5.0L Mustang, he quickly realized this was a car he could get into. Everything in it just worked; it wouldn’t require hours of tedious or back-breaking work in the garage and it’s a good-looking machine, even from the factory.

Of course, that wouldn’t be good enough for Jaime who had a plan for the car forming in his mind before he even made the purchase. And if he was going to spring for one, it had to be just right.

He tells us he finally found the right combo and ended up with a California Special in a stunning, deep factory red with a black top.

Since acquiring the car, he went with an Air Lift Performance 3P system that he trusted Sprint Auto Works (@BecauseBags), a local San Jose shop, to install. The exhaust has also been swapped out for a Magnaflow street cat back system that helps develop a very healthy rumble.

Jaime also went with incredible Vossen wheels, wrapped in some sticky Nexen tires. Being the classy gentleman he is, Jaime assured us he would never burn rubber in this thing.

It’s just fitting that he’s modded the car in such a classic way. Regardless of the era, you can NEVER go wrong with wheels and stance. The 20×9” front wheels coupled with a 20×10.5’s in the back look amazing while still providing reasonable driveability with the Air Lift system.

Jaime can cruise the backroads with his wife or drive the California Special straight to a show, drop the car on the grass, and come home with some hardware. What more could you ask for?