Wings

You can picture the scene, climbing into a scale P-51 Mustang, hearing the cackle of the exhaust that is close to that distinct unmuffled cacophony of a Merlin V12. Once in the air, you can narrow your eyes just a touch and you’re there—in a flight of P-51s taking on the Hun in the sun.

Not all hot rods have four wheels and a steering wheel. Some invest that yearning for the thrill of acceleration and squeeze that fantasy inside the fuselage of a P-51 Mustang warbird. That was Rod Bower’s dream—to feel what it must have been like to sweep the skies of the enemy behind the stick of the most famous fighter aircraft of World War II. But with the price tag of a real North American P-51 already escalating beyond what could be considered irrational, Rod had to find another way to live this dream.

He found a company now called Stewart 51 Partner that offered a 30,000 rivet recreation based on a 70 percent scale of the P-51 renamed the S-51. Original company owners Jim and Peggy Stewart designed their original kit around an iron 454ci big-block Chevy as the