Richard Hoha’s 1964 1/2 Convertible

The Mustang was purchased in July 2012 from Hendrick Motors located in Charlotte, NC. The car was initially purchased by Mr. Hendrick somewhere in Georgia in May 2012 as part of the initial muscle car in-ventory purchased to initi-ate a new muscle car dealer-ship under the Hendrick banner in Charlotte, NC. No prior ownership info is avail-able for the vehicle except the car was produced July 20, 1964 in Dearborn MI and shipped to a dealership somewhere in Georgia. The pony was a numbers matching 260 V8 164 HP Rangoon Red convertible.
My association with the car occurred years ago as a teenager who appreciated the style of the Mustang but was never able to purchase a Mustang. 36 years later, upon retirement, the fever came back and I began an internet search for a Mustang red convertible, old school, that I could put on the road and enjoy in my later years. I was totally ignorant about the history of the Mustang as a brand ,let alone the story behind the 64 1/2 initial production run. I purchased the car online and had it shipped to California.
Upon arrival in California the car had to be jump started off the trailer before it could be rolled down the ramp on its original 4 ply bias Goodyear tires of which one remains as the spare. The car was impossible to keep a battery charge, leaked oil and transmission fluid, and the four drum brakes made stopping an adventure. The generator was replaced with an alternator, disc brakes were added, the tires and headlights replaced, seat belts were added before my co-pilot would even think about getting into the car, and eventually the engine had to be rebuilt along with the transmission.
The car is just plain fun to drive now that it is running very well. A shout out to Craig Beckley and American Mustang for listening to my desire to make a top notch running Mustang without turning it into a complete Restmod. Like I said before, old school. The Mustang was driven to the 50th anni-versary in Las Vegas, been to Hot August four years running, Kool April Nites in Redding a couple of years, as well as numerous local car shows and one entry into the Niello and Ironstone Concours. It has won a class Award of Merit at Ironstone Concours as well as a Town Choice award in Danville.