I would like to share the story of how I… sorry,
dear!… I mean we, came to own our 1967 GT Fastback. The story
will be told first from my perspective, and then from Tammy’s
recollection and point of view.
It was March 1988, and I was still under the influence of the “Mustang
Bug” that I had caught several months earlier. This was the same
“Bug” that I had enjoyed before entering college (Note:
this should never be considered an illness!). The subscription to Mustang
Monthly that had run out about five years earlier had been renewed and
the faithful and true ’67 Coupe (owned since age 16) was once
again enjoying regular care and new parts with each paycheck. With my
bank account growing quickly after 18 months on my first job out of
college, things were looking pretty good! Good enough to justify the
purchase of another Mustang, that is!
It didn’t take long for me to decide what I wanted to buy, as
I already knew my first criteria would be to stay with the ’67-’68
years (because I knew them the best). In fact, second on my criteria
list, even before body style preference, was that the car would have
to be a factory GT (or GTA if ’67 automatic). It would only be
“icing on the cake” if I could find a different body style
from my present Coupe such as a Fastback or Convertible with a 4 speed.
I was ready for a little “fun” while driving. Yes sir, GT…Grand
Touring!
And then I saw the ad: “1967 390 GTA Coupe, project car $3,100
firm.” You can bet that I arranged to see the car first thing
Saturday morning! Upon seeing the car, I was a little disappointed in
what I was getting for the price: all chrome/trim/emblems on the car
were pitted with surface rust; the very faded “T code” Candy
Apple Red (with the “used to be” white vinyl top) looked
more like a “Rotten Apple Reddish/Orange”; and the 21 year
old styled steel wheels were decorated quite nicely with generous, lovely
accents of rust! On the other hand, the black deluxe interior, optional
instrument pod (trip odometer & 6K tach) and the very rare convenience
control panel (warning lights for low fuel, seat belts, door ajar, brake
release) were all in great shape. Best of all, it had the “big
block pavement pounder!” The seller even offered to throw in a
brand new GTA emblem (oh…thanks)! I agreed to buy it (even though
it ran out of gas on the test drive) and went to pick up my (at the
time) girlfriend so she could see it before we went to the bank. I’ll
let Tammy take over now…
Tammy: Brian and I were driving to the bank one Saturday
morning to get the money to buy this old, faded, desperately-in-need-of-restoration
’67 Mustang. From my perspective, it would be months if not years
before this tired Mustang would be restored enough for me to admit,
“Yes, that’s our car.”
Only 2 blocks from the bank, I saw the reflection of the sun off a shiny,
clean, gorgeous, red ’67 Fastback on the other side of the road.
“Oh, Honey, lookie there! It’s for sale!” As he burned
a U-Turn to take a closer look, Brian mumbled something about fog lights
and dual exhaust. Why he was commenting on fog I don’t know…it
was a perfect sunny day! As we pulled up behind it, I decided right
then that this was the car that I would try to persuade Brian to buy.
The only problem was that I had to act fast, knowing that he was definitely
going to buy a Mustang that day (he had been suffering with “the
fever” real bad for a couple of weeks), as he had already given
a deposit on the tired ’67 Coupe.
Well, needless to say, this car looked perfect after seeing the other
car first. Hard to believe they were supposed to be the same color!
After Brian “kicked the tires” and talked with the owner
for a while, he asked me what I thought. Here was my chance. I tried
to convince him that he would never have the time to do all the work
that the other car needed and besides, he already has a red ’67
Coupe with a black deluxe interior that he had owned all his driving
life. Who really cares if that first Mustang we looked at that day had
a “390 something or other” versus his present car’s
“whatever 289”? This car was a different body style, was
the GT that he had been wanting, and was beautiful! Brian quickly agreed
with my reasoning, although he was defensive about the part where he
would never have the time to do all of the work that the first car needed.
(I have since learned not to ever joke about how long it takes him to
restore Mustang wheels or redo his deluxe door panels.)
After a short test drive, Brian decided he definitely liked the car,
so we continued our journey to the bank (to get a bigger check!) in
order to buy the shiny red ’67 Fastback. The owner of the tired
Coupe didn’t even seem to care that we had changed our minds.
Back to Brian…
Brian: I was very pleased with the car. The previous
owner had every receipt for the recent rebuilding of the 4 barrel 289
and 4 speed toploader transmission! They also had the car painted about
a year before. One unusual thing was that the car was a 63B body (luxury
Fastback) yet it had a standard (2A) black interior. A lot of literature
says that all “B codes” are to have Pony (’65-’66)
or interior decor group (’67-’68) interiors. The one thing
that I miss when sitting in this car is the brushed aluminum deluxe
interior, which I think is the best interior of the ’65-’68
years.
Fast forward to 2005…this car was my everyday
car from ’88 to ’96, logging about 55,000 miles with only
a couple carb rebuilds and annual engine compartment cleanup for show
season! There were many fun events enjoyed with the VMOA club in San
Jose. After the first Shelby arrived (who’s now in 6th grade)
and Tammy made it clear my car would need to share car seat duty, this
car was retired from “active duty”. Over the last nine years,
only 2,700 miles have rolled by. A particular highlight was obtaining
the (Kevin) “Marti Report” a few years ago which confirmed
that this car was an original factory GT and not a clone (I was 95%
sure it was legit when I…sorry dear…we bought it but you
never really knew for sure back in those days). The report also cleared
up the “63B body with the standard interior” issue…the
report shows 63A but the data plate on the car was mis-stamped 63B.
It also rolled out of the San Jose plant with styled steel wheels.
Now if I ever see that ol’ 390 GTA Coupe again |
