Coffee Brake: Mostly Underestimated Standard Transmission Automobile, Now Golden — Happy 50th
In case you have been living in a cave on the moon, yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the launch of the venerable Ford Mustang. The first pony car was released at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, NY (the third time that the Big Apple was host to the World’s Fair — what ever happened to the World’s Fair anyway…do they still do those things or has it been replaced by every day on the internet?) on April 17th, 1964 and an astounding 22,000 Mustangs were purchased or ordered on that day. Fifty years later the classic 2-door sedan with a big hood can be found at any price range from $500 Fox body project to million dollar big block Steve McQueen sneezed on the dash and I covered his spittle in glass Boss 429 collectible. Nothing says America quite as loudly as the Mustang and everybody has a Mustang story. What is your Mustang Story?
EIC Vince: My own personal experience with the Mustang involves a multi-decade ownership (who owns who right?) of a certain 69 Fastback that has been torn apart, fallen apart, laughed in, cried in, raced in, cruised in, cursed in, shown off, spun off– you name it! Every time I mention the possibility of selling it to buy an Alfa GTV or something else, the wife says — no way, that car is you! Now I’ve got a certain little kid who would probably stop speaking to me if I sold the Mustang…but that is a story for another time.
Hunsbloger: My Mustangs
I was a 4th grader when the Mustang was
introduced and remember it as a very exciting time, but gotta confess it
wasn’t the top car on my list at the time. The ’63 Stingray was so
earth shatteringly different that I was more drawn to it, plus by the
1965 model year the Corvette was sporting big block power and I was
still getting over the shock of Route 66 having just been canceled.
However, that all changed dramatically when the movie Bullit premiered.
As the movie got underway, I was far more taken by the Austin Healey
3000 that was parked in front of his building than by his Mustang..
until.. the chase scene. That single screw rear end hopping up and down
while he backed up after overshooting a corner and that best patch I’d
ever seen laid down… his car was a ’68 but I lusted for ’67’s because I
liked their fake brake cooling slots just forward of the rear wheel
wells.
My first Mustang was not my best Mustang. I took a ’68 Mustang Fastback GTA with a bench seat in trade on a ’76 Honda Civic Coupe when the dealer allowed only $50 for the car in trade. Seems he didn’t go for the clutch pedal in a car labeled GTA and the car had now power in first gear. I took it for a test drive and quickly realized it was a 4-spd and not a three speed. It had a J-code 302 and had a twisted coat hanger wire for carberetor linkage. It was also running open headers. I paid $50 for it but didn’t get very far in restoring that one. I took it apart, but never put it completely back together, but sold it at a modest profit to a friend’s dad.
I tried to buy several ’67 390’s over the years but never was able to
close a deal on one. In 1987, I was shopping for a used BMW 635 CSI when the
dealer (who was a friend of mine) pointed to a black 5 speed ’87 Mustang
GT convertible that he’d just bought at auction. Unlike 1964, when Route 66 was
cancelled, the TV series Moonlighting had just made a star of the BMW so I was not instantly swayed. I obliged him by driving
the Mustang and discovered that I had to have it. It was a lot more visceral than the BMW and I loved the
way it sounded. I bought the car on a friday afternoon and autocrossed it
the next morning. I put a lot of miles on that car and set my personal best for the 1/2 Cannonball (Oklahoma City to Boston and
back)… oh, the speeding tickets that I earned by I managed to avoid that car!
I sold the ’87 GT convertible in OKC on my move to Southern California, where I arrived without a car. As luck would have it, my new brother-in-law was selling his ’73 Mach 1 so I bought it for my Daily Turismo. I drove it for about a year, painted it in the garage and made a little money on it but was never impressed with its barge like maneuvering. The next few years were a blur of crotch rocket motorcycles which are still faster per dollar than most cars, but when sanity (and too many close calls) brought me back to four wheelers, my search for a ’67 390 Fastback resumed. The closest I got was a car with no options, a motor that sounded like it had a rod knock and no brakes. An hour or so after turning that car down, I was tipped to a very straight ’67 Fastback A-Code in my least favorite color Lime Gold. The the car ran strong, had a four speed, power disc brakes, a/c that blew cold and was “all there”.
Over the next three years I cut it apart, added lots of custom parts, tore it down, had it painted, reassembled it and made a bunch of great friends along the way. I ended up with one of the first truly restomodded Mustangs around. Salvaged a Mustang II front end from a Pinto Wagon to get manual rack and pinion steering, added 4-wheel disc brakes, a Tremec 5 spd, tilt steering, cruise control, electric windows and a Ford SVO crate engine. It was finished right after Gone in 60 Seconds came out and I already had sourced a set of PS Wheels which set the car the way I like it. I drove it hard for the two years or so, managed to enter it into a couple of shows where it took several first places and was lucky enough to have Jim Smart with Mustang Monthly write it up. We moved to Michigan where it only saw duty when there wasn’t salt on the road. At 14 years, I owned that car longer than any car I’ve ever owned. I finally sold it to a really good friend who was told by DT’s E-i-C “either you buy it, or I’ll buy it and flip it for $1.50 on the dollar!” I used some of those proceeds to return our family to Southern California where I’m sure another Mustang will be in the cards for me on down the line.
What is your Mustang Story? Comments below.
Top image credit Ford.
Here's mine:
I come back from a tour in Korea, I'm 19, flush with cash, and I find a 1964 1/2 (yeah yeah I know) red Mustang convertible with white interior and white top. Prior to this my cars consisted of a 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix, a baby shit yellow 1979 Mercury Capri 4 cyl, a 1968 VW Bug that cost $600 and died two days later), and then my boots while in the Army.
I loved this car, took it with me to Ft. Bragg for my next duty station, picked up chicks, etc, etc, etc. Even took it on a weekend roadtrip from North Carolina to Michigan and back in 3 days.
2 years into owning it it starts blowing smoke. I'm going down to Panama for 6 months so I find a guy who can rebuild it for $750 (this is early 1990 money). He takes the car, I deploy, etc. I come back and the car ain't ready (we had exchanged a couple phone calls over the preceding 6 months and each time he said he was about done). Tells me the car fell on him, blah blah blah all kinds of sob stories. He loans me a 1977 Mustang POS for me to drive while he finishes my car.
Three weeks pass and the car he loans me dies. I leave it on the side of the road, call him and tell him where it is, and demand my car back.
(cont)
(II)
He disappears. I put the word out and eventually my car is seen in the lot of a garage. By the time I get there it is inside the garage, locked up, can't get in (this is an Industrial area). Next day when I show up with the cops, car is gone.
I hire an attorney to represent me.
Weeks pass and I find the car on my own while driving back roads in a 1973 Landcruiser I picked up. I don't slow to check it out or anything that would set someone off.
That night I come back with my buddy and cut the lock to the gate, push my car out (it's missing the engine and transmission by now, and looks like shit), and tow it to my house. How we did that I can't even remember. I think the Mustang hit the LC a few times on the way, but it was already in shit shape by now.
Two days later I am served with papers to appear in court for destruction of property, theft, etc, etc, etc. I'm incredulous.
FFD and I go to court. I have photos of the car before, I have photos of it after. I have the title, etc, etc, etc. The Judge dismisses the "theft" part when he learns I have a case against the guy but continues on with the "destruction of property" part since he's claiming over $3500 worth of destruction and even if the car was mine, I can't just destroy property to get it.
Guy has all photos of his gate, bashed in, estimates for repair, photos of broken glass in the office, etc.
I get him on the stand and I ask him to repeat his claims that I bashed in the gate and all that other stuff. He does. I ask him what kind of lock he had on the gate. He says that it was a blah blah blah lock. I ask him if it was key or combo. He says key. I ask him if he has the key to the lock? He says yes.
I then say "Mr. Morgan, why would anyone bash in a gate to tear it down to remove a vehicle after they have already used bolt cutters to cut the lock and remove it?" And I pull the cut lock out of my pocket.
"Is this the lock Mr. Morgan?"
Him: No, uh, no, that's not it. That's just some lock you cut.
Me: "Well you said you had the keys to the lock on you, can we try them out to see if they fit?"
Judge: "Mr. Morgan may I see your keys please? Mr. AbnMike may I see the lock?"
Of course there's a key on there that opens the lock.
Judge dismisses the case and tells him point blank that he better hope that he has an air tight case defending against the charges of theft of the car and destruction of it (which is on the schedule already) because he's had enough of his nonsense and he's going to get the case rescheduled to him.
A month or so later I go to court against the guy for the destruction of the car, etc, etc. In NC a business can be sued for triple damages for negligence. This guy comes out with all kinds of nonsense, etc, none of it is the least bit credible. He even tries to counter sue me because the POS car he loaned me was "stolen" (I produced a photo of the car in the same lot as where my Mustang sat because it was in some of the shots when I took pictures of the Mustang in the lot – weeks and weeks after it had died on me and I called him to get his car).
Judge awards me the cost of the car plus triple damages in accordance with NC law. His bitch fat wife screams in the courtroom that I will "never see a dime you cocksucker we're declaring bankruptcy and moving to Florida!" Judge has her removed as she curses me out – for what I have no idea, it was my car that was ruined.
Of course he disappeared and I never saw a dime except from Insurance.
Oh and in case you missed it:
This guy bashed in his own gate, drove a truck over it, destroyed his fence and broke windows and tried to pin it on me. I think the estimates were over $5,000 to repair it.
Some people's children, I swear.
i imagine you are close to paid back with what that story has earned you in beer over the years, amiright? 😉
The first V-8 I ever owned was a Black 1983 (late 82?) with an unusual 4bbl. and 4spd. combo. I bought it with the knowledge that the motor was recently rebuilt and paid $ 1700 for it. I remember distinctly how fast the car would accelerate in 2nd gear, and how easily it would spin the wheels in 1st.
Close inspection would reveal that the paint was checkered in the shape of liquid being splashed on the outside of the passenger's side door while the car was in motion. Clearly, someone had puked out the side of the car, and the tell-tale etching could not be removed with any amount of buffing and rubbing compound. The "caged urinal cake" air freshener found under the seat only confirmed that some serious booze-cruising had taken place in this car.
On the bulged hood was evidence that somebody put the front end of the car under the back end of a semi at low speed at some point. The bodywork was not done with bondo, but instead with white caulk. My dad and I fixed this slipshod repair as God intended: with the pink stuff and matte black stove paint.
I loved this car, drove the daylights out of it for a couple of years without any tickets.
When I turned 16 in 1993 I had a budget of $7k to buy a car, had to have less than 40k miles and insurance had to be less than a certain amount. Having always wanted a Fox body but not being able to find a 5.0 in the requirement put forth by my parents, I picked up a 4 banger… added Pony 5s, and made it the cleanest looking 4 banger. Even the 5.0 guys at school were jealous of its looks… but not of its slowness. Man was that thing slow hahahaha
When I turned 16 in 1993(I'm not making this up) I had a budget of $2k to buy a car. Found an orange 64 1/2 with a primer hood for just over my price range and the seller let me have it for less than he wanted because it was my first car.
A few months later I skipped school to go to the beach with my girlfriend and a group of her friends. Got in a 4-car pile-up on the way, which happened to be every car in our beach-going group. Part of the fender had been pushed into the left-rear tire, but the towtruck driver put a hook on it and pulled it apart so I could drive it home.
About a two weeks later the insurance company finally got around to looking at it and couldn't believe I had been driving such a damaged car around for so long.
Sadly, the car was totaled, but they gave me twice the price I paid for the car in the settlement, which I wasted on a RX-7 Turbo II I couldn't register because it couldn't pass smog.
Right now my wife's 1976 Mustang II is in the lobby of Ford World Headquarters until the end of April.
Bill Ford owns several Mustangs himself. They are also on display. I will take some pictures next week..
Her Mustang II should re-appear this summer at the get together at the Ford Design Center on July 18th.
Wifey's 76 Mustang II
I bought the 1976 Mustang II for my wife last year because it is exactly like the first car she ever bought. (She bought it brand new!)
I will be refining it over the summer in stock condition except for some larger sway bars, poly bushings, 16" wheels, and an 8" rear end with rear sway bar. As I said before I plan to sneak in a 2.3 Turbo, 5 speed some day.
Myself I had a 1969 Mustang, 351 Windsor, 4 bbl, C6 back in the mid 70's. I could take the Boss 302's up to 70mph.
I sure desire a 2015 Mustang V8 with IRS even over more expensive German iron.
If I did not need to fund my own retirement one would be in my driveway.
OK, back to the garage to work on my high maintenance, low rent German iron.
I found a picture of the wife's car in the Ford World Headquarters lobby
The Plain Jane unloved model
Thanks for the link Rene, great flickr collection of the entire display!
I went to the '64 Worlds Fair as a ten year old. Never owned a Mustang though I've always had a hankering for a Hertz fastback. The Fox platform Mustangs shoUldn't be allowed to be called a Mustang. Imho
@AbnMIke: Great story. What a sleazy bastard that guy was
@AbnMike
Your guy must be the guy in Florida I fought with in the mid 1990s
From Texas I had bought a 356 replica kit and had paid a guy the company recommended to have it assembled on a donor chassis.
[skip long story about BS BS BS reassurance when I called on a regular basis]
Ultimately I got a notice that my car was to be sold at auction for past due storage that I owed him to satisfy some of his creditors. Fortunately I was put in touch with a car guy good guy who went there with a trailer, offered to treat him to a knuckle sandwich, and came away with what was left of my car–he had been cannibalizing it to finish other projects!
Car came to Texas and little by little (to avoid displeasure from She who must be obeyed) it has evolved into a pleasurable ride.
Its stablemate was a 1966 Sprint Edition Mustang