I attended high school in the early 70’s and did all the things kids did in high school, such as cruising and racing, but never had the money to be taken serious. I always dreamed of a muscle car and especially the Mustang Boss because of the styling and relation to racing series. Gas crisis, college, family and work kept me from achieving this dream until I got closer to retirement and decided that I was going to fulfill this dream. I started looking and have always liked the look of the 1969 over other years and I wanted it to be a real muscle car so wanted the biggest engine possible within my budget. Finally, found a Mustang which someone started, and then ran out of money and sold to someone else who ran out of money, then sold to someone, who lost interest and then, we bought it. I found the car in the Houston area and had several friends look over it before I purchased it and had it shipped to California
The Mustang is a true 1969 Mustang R-code Mach 1 with 428 Engine and C6 Automatic Transmission. It came from the factory with Candy Apple Red paint, sport rear seat, front disk brakes, power steering, 8 track radio, air conditioning and automatic transmission; therefore, it has a good foundation to be a great car if restored.
Various owners did different things to the car during its life.
One owner spent his money on the body and frame. It was stripped down to the frame to repair rusted pieces. He replaced the rear end with 1978 Lincoln Versailles which also has disk brakes. He lowered the front end and then painted the car in his garage. The paint job is not great but not bad for a driver.
Another owner was more into racing. He had the engine rebuilt by a racing shop in Houston back in 2002 which added racing components such as aluminum heads, aluminum intake, hotter cam, and forged pistons. This was finished with MSD ignition system and Holley Street Avenger carburetor. The C6 transmission was removed and rebuilt for racing.
The next owner spent his money getting it to run and finding all the parts which got lost along the way. He replaced stock A/C to a Old Air Products Hurricane system to handle Texas heat.
I had already owned a 1931 Model A and 1957 Thunderbird which I got from my parents but did not have a car from my teen years. Cyndy was supportive in allowing me to fulfill this dream. She is also a big fan of muscle cars so the sell was not hard.
As mentioned earlier, We purchased it when the last owner lost interest and wanted to focus on other projects. I am very happy with the purchase and I spend time finishing it. I have spent much of my time on wiring issues, and replacing missing pieces or even correcting items installed incorrectly. My whole family truly enjoy driving the car, although, gas mileage is not good. I get positive feedback from everybody and everyone wants to talk about their personal experiences they had with Mustangs or memories of their parent’s owning one. I do love hearing these stories. This Car has filled my high school dream and gives me a great hobby to keep me busy.
Cyndy and I joined the Mustang Club about one year after I bought it to meet new people and motivate us to take it out once in awhile. I retired last December and hope to get more involved with the club. |
