This 2005 Mustang Wears an Eleanor Kit and It Sounds Every Bit as Mean

This 2005 Mustang wears Cervini’s C-Series body kit, a tribute to the “Eleanor” Shelby GT500 from Gone in 60 Seconds, but it’s the real side-exit exhaust that sets it apart from a costume-only build. Built specifically for the 2005-2009 S197 chassis, the kit brought a functional side-pipe system, not just cosmetic scoops and a hood. Here’s the story behind the kit, and why this one sounds as good as it looks.

Pop the throttle on this one and you’ll understand why the neighbors came outside. Underneath that aggressive fastback stance and those side-exit pipes barking off the pavement sits a fifth-generation Mustang wearing one of the most recognizable body kits the aftermarket ever built, a nod to a movie car that never actually rolled off a Ford assembly line. Cervini’s Auto Designs built its C-Series kit specifically for the 2005-2009 S197 Mustang, and it wasn’t just a hood and some scoops slapped on for looks. It came with a genuine side-exhaust system, the kind that turns a stock GT into something that sounds like it means business the second the key turns. This particular build leans hard into that reputation, and once you hear it fire up, it’s obvious why.

The Movie Car That Launched a Thousand Body Kits

“Eleanor” is the nickname for the heavily customized 1967 Shelby GT500 that starred in the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, and that single movie car managed to spawn an entire cottage industry of tribute kits across multiple Mustang generations. It wasn’t limited to kits built for the original 1967-68 fastback either. That hood, those scoops, and the side pipes became visual shorthand for “menacing Mustang” regardless of what year chassis sat underneath, which is exactly how a kit like this ended up fitted to a 2005 car built decades after the movie car it’s referencing.

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Cervini’s Take on a 2005-2009 Mustang

The C-Series kit built for the S197-generation Mustang included a hood, a front bumper kit, a ducktail wing, upper window scoops, lower quarter scoops, and that side-exhaust system paired with matching side skirts and a rear valance. It was designed to bolt onto both GT and V6 versions of the 2005-2009 Mustang, though it wasn’t a direct fit for the factory GT500 without modification. Cervini’s built the pieces in the USA from domestically sourced fiberglass and urethane, and this earlier S197 interpretation predates the more widely known Eleanor-influenced GT500 kit the company later unveiled at SEMA for the 2010-and-up Mustang.

Why the Side Pipes Make All the Difference

Anybody can bolt on a hood and a set of scoops and call it an Eleanor tribute. A real side-exhaust system is what separates a serious build from a costume. Routing the exhaust out through the rocker panels takes actual fabrication work and changes the car’s entire sound signature, which is why enthusiasts give real credit to builds where the side pipes are functional and not just cosmetic add-ons bolted on for a photo. A well-sorted, properly tuned Eleanor-kitted S197 like this one is a genuine head-turner combination: it looks like a movie car and it sounds like it wants to eat the quarter mile.

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