Someone mentioned that I might want to post these stories in talk as they are entertaining- Ill split it up between the GT500 and the GT350....... Both cars were found in the recycler, the recycler is one of those freebie little newspapers you can pick up at the local liquor store- Up until a year ago, I made it a habit to call on every single classic Mustang advertised in these little papers, just in case- 67GT500- Advertisement read- 67 Mustang, big block, racing stripes, blue/white, car needs to be put back together again, have most of the parts- The seller did not know if the car was a fastback or not, but said it had stripes on the top, a roll cage and weird seatbelts that came from the roll cage...... I drove 3 hours, including 20 minutes down a dirt road (right outside of Lancaster, CA)and find- a small little trailer with a homemade shed next to it- and a guy who was drunk at 730 in the morning inside (he even offered me a beer at 730AM Tuesday morning) He had been given the car by his brother, who had moved to Texas, and wanted to get something with A/C.....20 something years ago- He took the car apart 20 years ago, thinking he was going to turn it into a race car, but never got the money put together to buy any parts, and never put the car back together.... Finally he had decided to put the car back together again, in the last year, but something went wrong and he was so frustrated, he just put it for sale.... I asked if he ever got it to run, and he said he did, but it backfired a lot and finally just quit 300 yard down the road the first time- Problem- He wired the car up with the firing order of a Chevy instead of a Ford- as I found out when I got the car home..... I had the car completely back apart, and put it back together again, but all the original pieces were there, and the factory 8 track still works.... I have less then 20,000 invested in the car, but a lot of hours, the 20,000 includes the purchase price- $10,000- (he knew the car was special, but that was about it) All interior, chrome, stainless, is still perfect after sitting in the garage so long, and the car now has 43,000 original miles on it. 65GT350- This car has a little bit of a sad story- advertisement read- 65 Mustang, needs work. Thats all. I found this car in a barn in Cherry Valley CA.....When I found it the owner had made the following modifications back in the 70s Lifted the Back about 5 inches, (which meant the original traction bars were cut off) Put on custom slotted mags- that stuck out past the rear fender about an inch or so.... Mudflaps bolted on sideways Cut up the rear valance and brought the exhaust out the back blew up the original motor and decided as long as he was replacing it, that he was getting old, so he took out the 4 speed and replaced it with a C-4 (at least he was smart enough to keep the original Shelby intake manifold and valve covers) Decided to try and add A/C so he cut a huge hole in the firewall for the lines using a hack saw or something like that (the hole was about 4 times bigger then it needed to be) Added his own special custom steering wheel, cut up the dash for the radio at some point, added "euro" wipers back in the 80s with a custom antenna that made wierd bends and spirals custom dash mat glued onto the dash board- with his name on it "custom" emblems on fenders "euro" side mirror He also included in the sale some power steering units off of various year Mustangs as he was getting ready to give the car power steering.... I found this car for $5000, and purchased it after promising my wife I would sell my 2001 Mustang GT and buy an older fox body to pay for it..... I put a car cover on the car when I had it flat beded out (I didnt think the car deserved to be out in public looking like that) Over the last year and a half I have been getting as close to original as budget allows---- The worst part- the guy was really proud about the modifications he made to the car- he bought most of his mods in the JC Whitney catalog After the deal was done and the car was on the flat bed...I had to ask him, as he was sober (unlike the guy who sold me the 500)- if he knew what a Shelby was- his answer oh yeah...you just got yourself one....nothing really more then some fancy stripes and a hot motor though....I wanted the hot motor but had to promise the wife that if I got it, I would put in A/C, the automatic, and power steering I should have probably just bought a Mustang with A/C all ready in it, as I never did get that damn A/C to work....but your a young kid...Im sure you dont need it, maybe after you drive it for a few years you can get the A/C working though....or you can sell it to another kid and get yourself one with all the power stuff when your ready...... I told him yeah, I wanted one with all the power stuff, but it wasnt in the budget ..... The car was advertised for 7500, I talked him down to 5000, I told him I really wanted the car- but there was no way I could afford more then 5000.... He sold it to me for 5000, only if I promised to take good care of it.... As of yesterday- the car is lowered on 15" torque thrust Ds (Im not paying $2000 for repro 65 GT350 wheels) it still has the automatic- I had to use a repro steering wheel The orignal motor is long gone- but other then that, I have brought the car back as much as I can..... That car will never be as good as, or as original as an unmolested car.....but it makes me feel good that I could bring it back as much as I did...... I have about 30,000 invested in both cars, and had to sell my new 2001 GT and buy an old 90 Mustang Gt as my daily driver..... All it took was 8 years of reading the recycler every Thursday when it came out. I found the 500 5 years ago and the 350 2 years ago Id thought Id share my story, secret, as my wife tells me that if I buy one more Mustang...Ill be living in them so I stopped reading the recylcer about a year ago
I asked him to post this out of the sheer fact that he found a shelby for $5000!Regardless of shape. There was a recent post about someone wanting to find a shelby for around this price, and we all laughed at him, but i guess it CAN be done, with a little bit of luck i guess...
I must bet anxious to leave work today for new years eve, because the only moral I could get from that story was that it is a good idea to hang around liquor stores!
Did I ever tell the story about the six Mustangs I found in a barn? http://www.floridamustang.com/images/barn/1.jpg
Oh, I should tell you guys about this barn I've been to... you'll find a '65 Buick GS convertable, a '61 Alfa Guilia Sprint Veloce, a '69 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe (poor man's Ferrari), a very rare 1967 German Ford OSI, and a mint '74 Ford F series small block 4 speed shortbed... They've been sitting there for over 15 years, untouched, and I told mom and dad not to leave them there.
GNN60GT500 How long have you had that GT500 ? Mine was a simple investment story. The old fart foresaw the value rising and scarfed up 7 of them back in the early 80s.. I bought mine off of him after many years of begging (10) and after it sat for many more than that (18) in the storage building. Mine is not a trailer queen. She saw track time . All rebuilt solid now. Shiny is next.
