Way Back Wednesday, Reader Jim Asked If He Could Share His Girl......

 

My path to this 1970 Mustang started when I got an HO slot car set for Christmas in 1966.  One of the cars was a Mustang and for some reason I stuck with that car as my favorite throughout my life.  Now my Dad didn’t really have a favorite brand.  he had a Pontiac, Dodge, Chevy, Buick, Ford and Plymouth.  Whatever caught his fancy for the $ he had to spend.  He never bought new but always enjoyed a visit to the dealers to look over what’s there. There was one time where we were at the AMC dealer and we looked over a Purple AMX in the showroom and I hoped he’d get it, but of course that didn’t happen.  Hard to fit a family of 6 (at that time) into barely a 5 seater.   The 1-car garage, which he built and later expanded to 2, was his refuge from everyday life.  He would tinker, clean, polish & replace what needed to be done.  My best memory of this time frame in the garage was when he did a valve job on a 390 in a 169 Ford wagon.  Took the top-end off and brought the heads to a local machine shop (remember those?) and had it buttoned up by Sunday evening.  By senior year of HS I wanted a car, specifically a Mustang.  I found a 69 Mach 1 with a 390 auto at a used car lot, rusty (Illinois salt) and noisy (glass packs), that was shot down. My next find was an orange 70 Mach 1, 4-speed 351 Cleveland.  I couldn’t take e it for a test drive, so Dad & I went to look it over. He nixed that as it was more than we was willing to loan me.  A guy has to try.  Then one day I was at work and he called to tell me he found a Mustang in the local Trading Times (remember those weekly papers?) and was going to look at it.  He who has the $$ controls all.  When I got home a1969 Burnt Orange Mustang Sports roof 302 auto was in the driveway. It was $1300, which I paid back over a few months.  I made good money working at the local Grocery chain store.  I installed a dual exhaust from JC Whitney on it and rattle canned my interpretation of Boss 302 stripes on it.  This lasted less than a year due to a co-worker was selling his blue 1970 Mustang 428 SCJ with 3:91 gears.  Now at that time this car was well know to car guys.  What an opportunity!  I was lucky to sell my 69 Mustang within a few days and took possession of my next Mustang.  Well, actually, I didn’t take possession until Dad drove it home.  Ya’ see it’s a stick and I didn’t know how to drive stick.  So, he pulls it into the driveway and I proceeded to learn how to drive stick on a 428 CJ Mustang with a HEAVY clutch and low gears.  I drove up and down the driveway to get to the point where I didn’t stall it out or chirp the tires when starting.  A lot of fun in that car.  Visited Union Grove and left with a 14.95 time slip.  Rebuilt the engine due to a freeze plug rusting out. Drove it to Road America in 1973 and was in a parade lap for track workers (via a friend who was one).  Saw Mark Donahue drive the 917-30 around the track in record time. Replaced parts, fixed problems, added more bondo.  At that time, it was easy to find used muscle cars or ones that could be made into one.  Close buddies, Bill was (and still is) the Chevy guy with a 69 Hugger orange Z28. Mike had a 69 Boss 302, yellow that he repainted Orange.  Craig had a 73 Charger, 318 auto and John a65 Mustang coupe, originally a 6 with a stick, we swapped in a 289.  But after time passed I decided that a custom van was where I wanted to be, or more like to be with my wife-to-be.  That lasted a year, followed by 1 74 455 T/A (good until the trans cooler mixed with the radiator), 76 360 Cordoba (nice ride, no problems with it), a couple of beaters including a late 70’s Toyota Tercel for $1.00 which Dad and I pulled the engine in an afternoon to replace the clutch, then back to Mustangs. 1982 GT 5.0, 1991 Mustang GT, 1997 SHO Yamaha V8, and a couple of family vehicles.  Then in 1996 my friend Bill (Mr. Z28) found an add in the local ads newspaper for a 70 Mustang SCJ project car.  Off we went and found my 2nd SCJ Mustang in a storage barn covered with old dusty tarps, which you see here in all its glory. It took 7 years to complete the restoration. After pulling it all apart the resto stalled due to family responsibilities.  I was lucky to meet a local body shop guy that would work on it in his barn over the span of a year plus to get rid of the rust and previous body repairs, and another recommendation for final bodywork and paint. Again of course, life, kids, work, etc. took priority over working on the car, but I worked on it bit by bit and finally finished. I can’t describe the feeling of accomplishment when it was done. I would have never thought I could do this, but I did. I took it to shows and got my share of awards.  I enjoyed the trip thru the years to get to that point. I went thru a divorce and was fortunate to be able to keep the car, but less than a year after that I realized the car was worth more than I had in the bank, and it was too risky to drive around people that should not be on the road.  I sold it to a collector from FL, he actually drove up to Illinois in the winter to trailer it back, with the idea he would take for a spin around downtown Chicago. I told him that the white streaks on the road are salt and advised against that.  Not sure if he did or not.  The Mustang path didn’t end there though.  In 2014 I bought a new Mustang GT, red of course.  Took that on road trips to Florida, including a detour on the Tail of the Dragon.  It is faster than the SCJ for sure, more comfortable too.  But no way comparable in the visceral feeling you get with manual steering and shifting a car with all that weight in the front.  And of course the looks it provides.  This year financial and life changes made me decide to sell that one. But at the ripe age of 65 I just might have enough time/money/health to have one more Mustang in my life.  Thanks for reading.