It's always nice when a project stays in the family. 
Photography courtsey Jonathan Whitaker
The creators? Four passionate young women. The car? A mashed-up Ford Ranger and Ford Taurus. The next step? A project car for a father and his young daughter.
It’s been featured in our forums, our magazine, our Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge Presented by Tire Rack and Powered by AutoBidMaster and even the Wall Street Journal. But now, the hot pink EcoBoost Ranger-Taurus created by Material Girls Racing–an all-girl race team–is moving on to its next chapter with seasoned $2000 Challenge veteran and automotive powerhouse Jonathan Whitaker and his young daughter.
“Most people who attended the [$2000] Challenge concours day probably noticed a little girl following around the Material Girls Racing team and just adoring them,” shared Jon. “That was my oldest daughter, Ruby. She thought they, and their car, were the coolest thing ever. So, when the opportunity came up to buy it, I did. Now, I wanted it for myself too for other reasons, but she is so excited to be a part of this build.”
Although he was initially against buying a $2000 Challenge car, especially a previous winner–after all, it’s already built–he couldn’t say no.
“I have some ideas that I would like to make happen, and I think we can improve on an already impressive platform,” explained Jon. “Plus, at $1500, I couldn’t afford not to buy it.”
Some of these ideas include weight reduction, adding manual shift control and turning those fake turbos–a fun touch Materials Girls Racing added this year to scare the competition–into a reality.
“We would obviously like to replicate the Hoonitruck as much as possible,” Jon shared. “I have currently sourced a free ’73 F100 front grille and bumper, which is where most of the Honnitruck’s looks are derived … although the Hoonitruck has a black base for its livery, we plan on keeping the base pink and doing everything else on top. Keeping the pink theme to prevent my daughter from murdering me in my sleep.”
Follow along as this Ranger-Taurus combo evolves with Jonathan and Ruby on his build thread and YouTube Channel.
It's always nice when a project stays in the family.
This is an awesome story but what are the Material Girls up to? Are they building another car or are they going to be too busy becoming responsible adults?
In reply to APEowner :
When talking to them at the Challenge, it looks like they are taking a break and focusing on school.
In reply to Paris Van Gorder :
How lame, doing the responsible thing and taking school seriously.
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