Garcia Family - Daytona Coupe

None of this would be possible without a place to work, and while we have the space for this project it was at the time... unusable.   We placed the order with Factory Five on March 16th, 2025 but asked if it could be held until that fall.  Sometime around late September or early October.  That would give us time to untangle the disaster that was our garage and turn it into a usable workshop.  Lena and I have never assumed a garage is a place to store daily drivers, it's a place for tools and bicycles, to create, to bring ideas to life.   And now we had a big idea that needed a home for the duration of this build.  The goal is to have a complete car by the time Jack graduates high school.  A little over 2-1/2 years.  Seems possible depending on how much life happens during that time. Our garage prep task list: Carve out a section for a pantry / mud room.  This was a need. Additional outlets, lighting, and electrical for mini splits ...

Now that we all had seen a Daytona Coupe in person it was time to go for a ride in one. During a family road trip we stopped to meet a lovely gentleman who offered to show off his Daytona Coupe and take us all for rides.  "Mild to Wild" as he put it.  Jack and I opted for wild, Lena mild, and Elizabeth opted to settle for sitting in the drivers seat for a moment. The most evident aspect of his car.  His pride.  Pride that he built this.  That he knew every nut, bolt, success, and misstep along the way.  Pride that he completed this journey.  But Scott's is not my story to tell.  It is his own, and it is special. Read about it here if you're so inclined. FFR - The Race Is On The funniest thing about his car was the color. Some builders will obsess over the exact color whether it's period correct, or some vision they're trying to achieve.  For Scott.  Red.  His painter asked what color, and he said "Red".  There are a billion sha...

 The next step was introducing my family to Factory Five Racing and seeing the Coupe in person.  Up until now they were simply trusting me that this was worth doing.  Pictures and video of the Coupe are fine, but it is something else entirely in person.  Low, wide, with an indefinable presence.  First time seeing one my heart skipped a beat.  Such a beautiful shape and unlike anything on the road.  The phrase "Race car for the road" is thrown around in the automotive world for a variety of vehicles.  Few actually live up to that.  Most cars are too polished, too quiet, too practical to qualify as a race car.  The Daytona Coupe was only ever designed as a race car and being near one it becomes evident.  We will attempt to make ours a little more civilized but there's no getting away from the nature of this machine. Factory Five Racing holds an annual open house, so this was our best opportunity to see one in the flesh as a family....

This part is out of order, and usually comes much later in the build.  But there's a reason which will become evident as we begin. We contemplated building an engine from the block up but that quickly became complicated due to registration and emissions.  It's not all that interesting but it involved buying a running pre-emissions vehicle and crushing it before registering our Daytona Coupe.  Seems like unnecessary nonsense.  The more achievable path became a crate motor from Ford Performance.  A Gen III Coyote 5.0 Liter V8.  Or what's found in modern Mustangs.  Comes with an OBD II Port for diagnostics that all modern vehicles have.  Along with that we picked up a Tremec T56 6 speed manual transmission and some other odds and ends to assemble the whole package. If you share a passion for all things mechanical and automotive a visit to Mike Forte in Framingham MA should be on your list.  He's wonderful.  If you had a week to spend at hi...