Have you tried posting on FEP yet? They have a pretty good database concerning specialty mustangs.
Picked Up This 79 Mustang-need Advice
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OK. So I joined foureyedpride and someone knew right away the real story behind this car. This was his reply. Nice to know the real story. Hate to tell the previous owner the real story.
""Well, you were fed quite a line on the car you just bought, allow me to take some of the sting out by at least telling you it is a "AHA" Mustang convertible conversion. The nose and the seats were added after the fact and are not original to the car (a VIN tag on the inside of the nose cap/front bumper should confirm this). There were roughly 230 of these produced over the course of two years (1979-1980), and they were never(N-E-V-E-R) built for, or at the Indy race.....The actual cars/trucks at Indy were sold via lottery to the Ford dealer network, who then resold them as new/used cars. The Tomaso did not even have a car display at the 1979 Indy race, let alone provide 100 cars to the event to shuttle people around. I believe your seller got confused about the "Festival Cars" (Mustangs, LTDs, and a few F150 pick ups) and rolled that into the story/myth he or she was attempting to spin.....
Now that the basics are out, tell us a little more about your new acquisition
Have you run a Marti Report yet?
Bill S.""
""Well, you were fed quite a line on the car you just bought, allow me to take some of the sting out by at least telling you it is a "AHA" Mustang convertible conversion. The nose and the seats were added after the fact and are not original to the car (a VIN tag on the inside of the nose cap/front bumper should confirm this). There were roughly 230 of these produced over the course of two years (1979-1980), and they were never(N-E-V-E-R) built for, or at the Indy race.....The actual cars/trucks at Indy were sold via lottery to the Ford dealer network, who then resold them as new/used cars. The Tomaso did not even have a car display at the 1979 Indy race, let alone provide 100 cars to the event to shuttle people around. I believe your seller got confused about the "Festival Cars" (Mustangs, LTDs, and a few F150 pick ups) and rolled that into the story/myth he or she was attempting to spin.....
Now that the basics are out, tell us a little more about your new acquisition
Have you run a Marti Report yet?
Bill S.""
This is the story on how I got the car....
Bill, thanks for the history on these cars. I searched the internet for hours and came up with nothing. But I was putting Indy in the search which is why nothing was popping up. Did find a pic of another one just like this, but no info.
This is all I know about the car. I was dropping my tractor off at my bosses old farm house last summer so he could york rake some loam he just had spread. After I unloaded he said come check out this car I have in the barn. It was covered with an old tarp and his Daughter and husband who were living at the farm house had piled boxes on top of the car to keep them off the concrete floor. He told this story about the car. Said he bought it in the early 90's and it needed some bodywork. He took it to a local bodyshop. The owner was a friend of his and also had quite a car collection, about 75+/-. The bodyshop owner researched the the history and he is the one that "uncovered " the history of the car. Since my boss thought it was rare he ended up spending over 17k on the bodywork. My boss is not stupid, just a little to trusting when a friend tells him something. Anyway he drove the car summers until he parked it in the barn in 2000.
I told my boss it was a shame to let the car sit like this, he knew what I was leading up to, even thou I couldn't even see the car or condition. He said he was donating it to a school autobody shop and they were picking it up before school starts. I said I was glad it was going to a new home.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. As I was walking by my bosses office he yells at me " hey get in here", so I go in and ask what's up his reply is "I'm giving you that car", my reply was "what car?" LOL- short term memory. He said none of his kids want it, they won't take care of it and he is selling the farmhouse. We went over and looked at it Friday morning. He told me on the way over that is was a fiberglass body and the first two built had a tin trunk lid, the rest had a fiberglass lid. When we uncovered the car I tapped on the panels, all steel, so I knew at that point the story he was given may not have been entirely accurate. I'm a old school Charger guy at heart. But always liked the mustangs. So I was more than happy to give the Mustang a new home. My wife and I went over Friday night, loaded up the car and bought it home.
Now that I know the the real history behind this car it should be easier for me to do additional research. Thanks for you help with this
Bill, thanks for the history on these cars. I searched the internet for hours and came up with nothing. But I was putting Indy in the search which is why nothing was popping up. Did find a pic of another one just like this, but no info.
This is all I know about the car. I was dropping my tractor off at my bosses old farm house last summer so he could york rake some loam he just had spread. After I unloaded he said come check out this car I have in the barn. It was covered with an old tarp and his Daughter and husband who were living at the farm house had piled boxes on top of the car to keep them off the concrete floor. He told this story about the car. Said he bought it in the early 90's and it needed some bodywork. He took it to a local bodyshop. The owner was a friend of his and also had quite a car collection, about 75+/-. The bodyshop owner researched the the history and he is the one that "uncovered " the history of the car. Since my boss thought it was rare he ended up spending over 17k on the bodywork. My boss is not stupid, just a little to trusting when a friend tells him something. Anyway he drove the car summers until he parked it in the barn in 2000.
I told my boss it was a shame to let the car sit like this, he knew what I was leading up to, even thou I couldn't even see the car or condition. He said he was donating it to a school autobody shop and they were picking it up before school starts. I said I was glad it was going to a new home.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. As I was walking by my bosses office he yells at me " hey get in here", so I go in and ask what's up his reply is "I'm giving you that car", my reply was "what car?" LOL- short term memory. He said none of his kids want it, they won't take care of it and he is selling the farmhouse. We went over and looked at it Friday morning. He told me on the way over that is was a fiberglass body and the first two built had a tin trunk lid, the rest had a fiberglass lid. When we uncovered the car I tapped on the panels, all steel, so I knew at that point the story he was given may not have been entirely accurate. I'm a old school Charger guy at heart. But always liked the mustangs. So I was more than happy to give the Mustang a new home. My wife and I went over Friday night, loaded up the car and bought it home.
Now that I know the the real history behind this car it should be easier for me to do additional research. Thanks for you help with this
No matter what it is, it is a unique car for sure. Cool find, and lucky to have it just given to you!
That's called the buck tag and the guys at fep can brake it down for you.Found a data tag screwed to the front of the radiator support. Now I need to decode all this.
By the way, I'm not a spokesman for them. I just know they handle lots of stuff like that.
At least he just has the automotive version on the word ingrained in his mind. Nothing bothers me more spelling wise, then people upgrading their "breaks."
- Mar 2, 2015
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That car is rare if only 230 made in a 2 year span.
Yeah, guy over at foureyedpride is probably right. He says its not special at all...so....wanna sell it ? I'll take that car off your hands in a heart beat- swapped seats and all.
Inbox me if you are thinking about selling it.
Yeah, guy over at foureyedpride is probably right. He says its not special at all...so....wanna sell it ? I'll take that car off your hands in a heart beat- swapped seats and all.
Inbox me if you are thinking about selling it.
It is in fact a [replica] 1979 5.0L Pace Car hatchback that has been converted to a convertible body. (CUN starts with "48", which all 10,478 1979 replica Pace Cars start with, and buck tag has code "500", which all replica Pace Cars built at Dearborn have.) Who did the conversion and when is unknown.
There were at more than a dozen "coach" convertible companies that did conversions to early Fox Capri/Mustang coupes and hatchbacks before Ford offered a factory option (done on the coupe body by Cars & Concepts through 1993) starting with the 1983 model year.
There were at more than a dozen "coach" convertible companies that did conversions to early Fox Capri/Mustang coupes and hatchbacks before Ford offered a factory option (done on the coupe body by Cars & Concepts through 1993) starting with the 1983 model year.
Update on the car. I did get it running. Still need to do the brakes and go thru the car but it's on the back burner while I get my wife's Daytona clone ready for paint (gotta keep the wife happy).
It did spark quite a debate on the other forum. I sent a bunch of pics to one of their members who seems to be the resident authority on these custom verts.
The car did start it's life as a pace car edition. According to the member on the FEP forum someone got their hands on a convertible parts car and performed a back yard abortion on the car to turn it into a convertible.
I quizzed my boss again about the car. He claims there was some paper work with the car when he got it. He said the owner of the body shop where he had it worked on had some questions concerning the conversion and called the coach company about it. I never mentioned coach company to my boss so it's possible there was some small company that perhaps did a handful of these conversions. At this point I really am not that concerned. I got it running for cheap money and with the exception of new rims and tires should be able to get it on the road fairly cheap. Still not sure what I will do with it. My wife thinks we should take it to the Ford show at Carlisle this June.
It did spark quite a debate on the other forum. I sent a bunch of pics to one of their members who seems to be the resident authority on these custom verts.
The car did start it's life as a pace car edition. According to the member on the FEP forum someone got their hands on a convertible parts car and performed a back yard abortion on the car to turn it into a convertible.
I quizzed my boss again about the car. He claims there was some paper work with the car when he got it. He said the owner of the body shop where he had it worked on had some questions concerning the conversion and called the coach company about it. I never mentioned coach company to my boss so it's possible there was some small company that perhaps did a handful of these conversions. At this point I really am not that concerned. I got it running for cheap money and with the exception of new rims and tires should be able to get it on the road fairly cheap. Still not sure what I will do with it. My wife thinks we should take it to the Ford show at Carlisle this June.
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