Your race car might be cool, but it will never be “pulling a wheelie on ice at 131 mph in the dead of winter” cool. Ruth and Perry Redeker have built one badass ’Stang that they’ve dubbed Nitemare II, and it stands to be one of the quickest ice drags race cars in the U.S.

The name of the game is racing their big-block-powered ’Stang on a frozen lake at the Merrill Ice Drags hosted in Merrill, Wisconsin. The race consists of an eighth-mile, iced-over “track” where racers compete to put down the quickest times possible in the dead of the winter. Nitemare II is damn good at its job too, so Ruth and Perry have no problem pairing their classic Fastback up against blown, alcohol dragsters.

(Photo Credit: Scott Witty)

The Redekers’ 1965 Mustang was built specifically to compete in the eighth-mile event and features a 460-based Ford engine. The build consists of a 540ci ‘Eliminator’ block, which utilizes Trick Flow A460 cylinder heads and a matching intake manifold, along with twin Dominator carburetors. Boasting 12.5:1 compression at more nearly 8,000 rpm on 102-octane fuel, this Ford-powered ’Stang makes just shy of 1,000 horsepower naturally aspirated, but it does have a shot of the juice on speed dial if necessary.

Ruth and Perry are extremely proud of their ’Stang, and for good reason – the classic Ford is the world recorder holder in both the Modified and Open Door-Slammer classes, as well as a recipient of the 2016 Mayor’s Choice Award. It’s nice when your race car benefits from a handful of accolades, but we still think that popping a wheelie at 131 mph on ice has to be the coolest one.