In 2013, I was assigned to cover the Woodward Dream Cruise from Mustang Alley in Ferndale, Mich., where I observed a custom orange-metallic T-top 1988 Mustang GT. According to Bill McClelland, the vehicle’s owner, he personally completed all of its modifications, aside from the bodywork and paint.

A few days later, I invited Bill to have his 1988 Mustang GT photographed at a private airport near Flint for possible magazine publication. We met for the photo shoot on Oct. 12, 2013, and the article later appeared in Mustang Monthly. Afterward, Bill thanked me and mentioned he was looking for another Mustang GT for his son, Blake.

In 2015, Bill contacted me to share his enthusiasm about finding a 1988 Mustang GT convertible locally listed on Craigslist. The vehicle had previously spent much of its life in the southern United States before relocating to Michigan. The 50,000 miles on the odometer indicated it had only been modestly driven — but not babied — during the first 30 years of its life.

Despite moderate wear to the white paint, gray lower two-tone accents, convertible top and leather interior, the car remained structurally sound — ideal for restoration and customization.

Bill and Blake intended to completely transform the Mustang by replacing many factory components with advanced options from the automotive aftermarket sector. Their goal was to create a truly unique vehicle incorporating numerous custom elements designed personally by Bill and Blake.

Earlier this year, their 1988 Mustang GT convertible build was complete and ready for a photo shoot. We met at the same airport near Flint where I had photographed Bill’s 1988 T-top GT years ago. After photographing both cars together, I focused on Blake’s convertible — shooting it with the top up and down. 

Blake’s journey from inspiration to reality had unfolded over nearly a decade, a testament to both the persistence and strength of Blake and Bill’s father-son bond. At our photo shoot, I learned the McClellands’ garage became more than a workspace; it was a crucible for ideas, skills and shared memories. Through late nights, trial and error and countless cups of coffee, the vision for Blake’s Mustang GT convertible slowly took form. Each setback — whether a back-ordered part, a family matter or an unexpected obstacle — was met with new determination.

As months turned to years, Blake said his automotive knowledge grew alongside his ambition. He learned the subtle art of aligning body panels, the patience required for intricate wiring and the satisfaction of overcoming engineering puzzles. The Mustang GT became not just a car, but a canvas — one where creativity, resourcefulness and attention to detail shaped every decision. Even the smallest improvements were celebrated, with Blake and Bill refining their plans as new technologies emerged and tastes evolved.

By the time the project neared completion, the Mustang GT convertible bore little resemblance to its humble beginnings. It had become a rolling chronicle of lessons learned, skills mastered and the unwavering pursuit of a promise made years earlier. 

After completing our photo shoot of Blake’s GT, the pair drove away with the convertible top down, and the stunning Symbiosis Green paint glowing in the evening light. It was a perfect scene for a perfectly completed project.

We’ll leave the details of the Mustang GT’s build to Blake himself:

Building a Mustang GT

From an early age, I was immersed in a family environment that valued classic automobiles and fostered a keen interest in cars from the outset. Unlike my peers, whose preferences leaned toward action figures or sports, I gravitated toward Hot Wheels and LEGO sets — particularly the automotive-themed kits — which quickly became my favored toys. Prior to obtaining my driver’s license, my mother often collected me from school in either my father’s Mustang or her Nissan 300ZX, experiences I greatly anticipated after each school day. Car shows and weekend cruises were always enjoyable opportunities, despite my not yet being able to drive. 

At age 14, I expressed to my father a desire to undertake a car restoration project together, hoping to eventually own and drive my personal vehicle. He welcomed the idea, eager for a collaborative “father and son” endeavor, yet remained careful not to pressure me, understanding that could potentially diminish my enthusiasm. Our search began with considerations between a T-top Mustang and a 300ZX, reflecting my appreciation for both American and Japanese domestic market vehicles. Ultimately, practicality and affordability influenced my decision to pursue a Mustang. After an initial attempt to purchase a T-top model fell through, we located a solid 1988 Mustang convertible for $2,500 on Craigslist — a southern vehicle reportedly showing only 50,000 miles.

Initially hesitant about the convertible’s aesthetics, I proceeded with the acquisition for the sake of owning my own car. In September 2015, we purchased the Mustang GT convertible, at which point I underestimated the scope and complexity of a ground-up restoration. I envisioned using the Mustang as a daily driver following its refurbishment, but soon realized a more practical daily vehicle was necessary; I subsequently acquired a Saturn Aura from relatives in 2016 for that purpose.

That February, my father and I began incremental upgrades, culminating in a manual transmission conversion, suspension enhancement, larger brakes and a five-lug conversion. Our first drive post-conversion occurred in May 2016. Although initially frustrated by the challenge of operating a manual transmission, practice with a pit bike improved my proficiency, which I then applied to smoother car operation. By June 2016, we continued customizations, including the addition of a spoiler, style bar and larger wheels. The car served reliably for events and exhibitions from 2017 to 2019, during which time I came to appreciate the benefits of the convertible configuration.

October 2019 saw the installation of a Cervinis Ram Air hood, aligning with my aesthetic preferences. When the COVID-19 pandemic rendered large gatherings unfeasible in December 2019, I elected to have the Mustang professionally repainted in lieu of a graduation party. This decision initiated a comprehensive tear-down and restoration process. By January 2020, we removed the engine, and upon inspection, confirmed the indicated low mileage. My uncle, Butch Kaznecki, assisted with bodywork, welding new inner fender panels, repairing trunk lid holes and accommodating a side-exit exhaust.

In May 2020, the vehicle was sent to Creative Autosports & Restorations (CAR) for painting, a process extended over 12 months due to workforce challenges, ultimately completed by the shop owner. The Mustang returned from paint in May 2021, and reassembly began. By July 2021, with guidance from my father, I successfully rebuilt the 5.0L V-8 engine. And it was my first. In June 2022, I started the engine independently, marking a significant personal achievement.

Visualizing the final result was aided by digital renderings and a racing simulator I assembled, allowing me to virtually drive the Mustang while physical work progressed from 2022 through 2024. Custom lighting and interior enhancements continued, and in October 2024, the car was roadworthy. Further modifications, including a custom exhaust by BAM (Barry’s Ace Maintenance) concluded in November 2024.

December 2024 brought the profound loss of my grandmother. In her memory, I incorporated her green flashlight into the car with custom trunk trim, ensuring a meaningful connection with her always remains present. By July 2025, all audio system components and trunk trim were installed, and in August 2025, the finished vehicle debuted at the Mustang Alley show during the Woodward Cruise.

This extensive project was only possible with the support of my family, notably my parents and Uncle Butch. The experience provided invaluable technical knowledge and served as a deeply meaningful father-and-son collaboration, one I will always hold in high regard.

The blessing of a ‘father and son’ project

A mother’s perspective

As Blake’s Mom, I couldn’t be more proud of all of his accomplishments, especially finishing his Mustang. Through all the delays and unfortunate family events, he was able to stay the course and get to the finish line. It wasn’t easy, and the struggles with this project were very real. Everything led to this point, and what an honor to be featured in a professional photo shoot for a magazine!

Blake and his dad worked tirelessly to make this build a very unique show stopper. His face lit up with such pride when he brought home a first-place trophy at his first judged car show. I am truly thankful and blessed to be the mom of such a special young man! Congratulations, Blake, and enjoy all your hard work! — Tania McClelland 

A father’s perspective 

The wish for any father is to have his son take interest in his hobbies and to spend quality time together in life with his son. As much as I wanted to have my son join me in the garage to work on cars, I did not want to force him and have him reject it. I knew he loved Hot Wheels and riding in my Mustang, so I knew there was a chance that he may someday get the car bug.

When going to car shows, he started telling the story of my Mustang when people came over to look at it. Once I built my wife, Tania, her Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo convertible, I could see the excitement grow. One wonderful day when my son was 14, he approached me and asked if we could work on a car together. It was amazing to hear the moment that I was waiting for, and I had to hold back my excitement. I asked Blake, ‘What did you have in mind? Are you willing to get your hands dirty?’ He responded, “As long as it’s a car for me.” That is when the journey began to evolve, and I knew the car legacy would continue in our family.

Once we found the 1988 convertible Mustang GT, he was committed. The timeless hours, the stages of completion and the challenges we solved together built a bond that is priceless. My son has become a sponge for knowledge, and the projects became a great learning tool for him mechanically and electrically. Now that he is going to college, I see how he is developing into a tremendous engineer  His degree is in mechatronics, which is a blend of both. I’m extremely proud of Blake and grateful to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience with my son.

I thank my wife for her patience and time that she has given up for the hours we spent in the garage. This was a gift in our lives that brought us together, and I can only hope for others to experience this. I now realize how rare this opportunity was and know it was a blessing. — Bill McClelland

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A determined father-and-son team come to the aid of a rare Mustang when they rescue it from a barn near Gettysburg, Pa. Working together, the highly skilled duo successfully orchestrate a plan to restore the rare pony car to Mustang Club of America award-winning Concours Gold standards.

The huge Antique Automobile Club of America Eastern Fall Nationals in Hershey, PA., takes place each year during the first full week in October. The AACA Hershey Region began hosting the show in 1955 and has done so each year since then.

The size of the event is overwhelming. It takes place on the grounds and parking lots surrounding Hershey Park and The Giant Center, and Hershey, as it’s simply called, is considered one of the largest antique automobile events in the United States.

Throughout the decade or longer that I have been covering Hershey, I have discovered many great automobiles hidden in its giant flea market and on its sprawling, one-day-only show field. Among them was the Candyapple Red Mustang coupe I discovered a few years back while walking the outer perimeter of the show field. As I was scoping out each row of the show field in search of something rare and unique, the red Mustang stood out to me, although I, presumably like many others, initially thought the car was a rare California Special or GT/CS, as it’s often called within the Mustang and Shelby communities. But I was mistaken. As I walked closer, I noticed the blue-and-gold-scripted “High-Country Special” decal on the quarter panel side scoop and picked up my pace. This wasn’t a GT/CS, but an even rarer Mustang High Country Special!

As I approached the rarely seen Mustang model for a closer look, I was greeted by Howard Elledge and his son, Keith. The father-and-son duo had recently completed a complete restoration of their High Country Special Mustang after rescuing it from a location not far from their home in Gettysburg.

The car was a true barn find; it had been sitting in a local barn for decades, and Howard had known about it for many of those years. Determined to own it one day, Howard kept close contact with the owner until one day he received the call he had been hoping to get when the owner asked if Howard was still interested in buying the Mustang. Without hesitation, Howard said he wanted it. A deal was reached over the phone and soon after, Howard and Keith returned with a truck and trailer to take it to their home.

High Country Special History

One of the first special-edition Mustangs was the High Country Special. In an effort to maintain sales momentum in Mustang’s second model year of 1966, Denver-area Ford dealers offered the High Country Special edition with unique colors and brass “High Country Special” fender badges. Available in all body styles, 333 were sold for ’66 and another 400 were sold for the 1967 model year.

A more distinctive High Country Special arrived during the 1968 model year after Carroll Shelby built his one-of-kind prototype Mustang Shelby notchback hardtop coupe known as “Little Red.” Although Shelby’s high-performance Little Red coupe never came to be produced for the public—Shelbys remained only available as convertibles or fastbacks—the prototype coupe caught the attention of Ford’s Southern California District Sales Manager, Lee Grey, who lobbied for a Little Red-influenced Mustang coupe to be produced as a regional promotion. Ford Motor Co. green-lit the Mustang project for 1968, giving it the name “California Special” (GT/CS) and making it nearly identical to Colorado’s 1968 High Country Special. The twin-Paxton-supercharged 428-cid V-8 engine and other mechanical enhancements from Carroll Shelby’s Little Red EXP500 prototype didn’t find their way onto the GT/SC or High Country Special, but many of Little Red’s styling cues did find their way on the GT/CS and High Country Special.

Aside from the “High Country Special” side decal and the GT/CS’s rear fender “California Special” scripts, the 1968 High Country Special and GT/CS are identical. Success in and around Denver selling the High Country Special models beginning in 1966 inspired Ford to design and produce the GT/CS for 1968. That year, 4,118 copies of these limited-edition coupes were built for West Coast dealers (they were so close in appearance, Ford lumped production into one number). However, just 251 of the 4,118 limited-edition coupes were High Country Special editions, and the rest were California Specials. If one questioned whether the High Country Special and GT/CS were based on Carroll Shelby’s “Little Red” ’67 show car hardtop, one only need to examine their special features. The near-twin GT/CS and High Country Special coupes were clearly built with a combination of Mustang GT and Shelby GT350/500 parts.

As more people outside of Colorado have become aware of it over the last decade, the Ford Mustang High Country Special has grown in popularity. Enthusiasts are attracted to the High Country Special’s rarity, its solidly sporty first-gen pony car foundation and, for the final-year 1968 models, the cool Shelby connection and look.

The 1968 High Country Special styling elements included a blacked-out grille without the running horse; Marchal fog lamps (initially) and then Lucas fog lamps; quarter-turn hood locks; and a pop-off gas cap with a running horse. Shelby features straight off of the Little Red prototype were the High Country Special’s fiberglass quarter panel extensions; quarter panel scoops; built-in spoiler in the fiberglass decklid; and 1965 Thunderbird taillamps, as found on Shelby GT350/500 models. The High Country Special package also included stripes in red, white, blue or black that ran down the flanks into the quarter panel scoops where there was a special “HCS” logo. A matching-color stripe adorned the rear of the back spoiler and rear fender extensions.

All factory Mustang engine and exterior paint color options were available on the High Country Special and GT/CS models. All were built at the Ford Motor Co. San Jose assembly plant.

A Pony Car Pulled from the Barn

Factory produced with a 230-bhp 302-cid V-8 engine, the Elledges’ Mustang is the only High Country Special produced with its combination of options and with the optional center console. All of this Mustang’s body panels and the spare tire are original to the car, the former a remarkable feature for a Mustang stored in a Pennsylvania barn. However, the Mustang was originally sold in the western United States where the climate is mild, and its well-preserved metal proved it had clearly spent most of its life there.

Howard and Keith prepared the car’s solid western body panels for paint, and a local shop applied the single-stage Candyapple Red paint. Father and son then assembled the Mustang at Keith’s auto repair shop in Gettysburg. Their goal was to make this ’68 Mustang High Country Special among the best-restored examples in the hobby, and they achieved their goal.

The High Country Special garnered Best in Class Concours Gold Awards from the Mustang Club of America (MCA) and also earned Junior and Senior medallions in National AACA competition throughout the past decade. The Elledges’ 1968 Mustang High Country Special has made appearances at the Mustang Owner’s Museum in Concord, N.C., and was shown as part of a special display at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pa., that coincided with Mustang’s 50th anniversary.

Howard passed away in August 2019 and now his son, Keith, is the rare ’68 High Country Special Mustang’s caretaker. Like his father, he shows the award-winning Mustang at MCA and AACA events.

Mustang research bonus

I was on hand with Jason Billups and Todd Hollar when The Shelby Little Red EXP500 prototype was discovered parked in a field near Fort Worth, Texas. I filmed and documented the process from its discovery to its unveiling at the Barrett-Jackson auction in January 2020. During my research that included weeks spent going through the Ford archives, many similarities were found and referenced in the GT/CS model that were takeaways from Little Red. One photograph in the archives showed a 1967 Mustang coupe clay model with quarter panel side scoops with the unique script letters “GT-SC.” This clay model could have been the template for the creation of “Little Red,” and it was most likely the first attempt at what eventually became the GT/CS. The product designers only had to reverse the “SC” in “GT-SC” with “CS” to create the GT/CS for the California Special. Remarkably, I did not locate one photo of Little Red in finished form in any of the thousands of photos I viewed while at the Ford archives.

As for the “GT-SC” script on the Mustang prototype photos I uncovered and examined, it’s presumed the “SC” was to stand for Super Coupe, if the GT-SC, as modeled, had gone into production. We now know that never happened, but another performance car builder of the same period utilized an “SC” (Super Car) script on his hottest cars: Don Yenko, of Yenko Chevrolet.

Incidentally, Little Red was purchased by its original owner, Tom Gaddis, from Courtesy Ford in Littletown, Colo., where it was for sale on the used car lot with other rare, one-of-a-kind Mustangs and Shelbys. Was it a coincidence that Little Red, upon which the High Country Special was based, was sent to Colorado by the Ford Motor Co.? Or was Little Red intentionally sent to Denver to be sold because it would blend in with the High Country Specials? That’s something we might dig into later as part of Mustang history. Stay Tuned! 

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_{– Originally ran in January 1, 2024 issue of Old Cars}

Recently, I visited Chrysler’s webpage and found that its lineup is comprised of just three vehicles: The Pacifica minivan, the hybrid Pacifica and the 300 sedan. It would seem that Chrysler, a proud name with a long and interesting history, has become merely a minor star in the Stellantis constellation.

I won’t pretend to guess what the future may hold for the company that Walter P. Chrysler founded nearly a century ago. The “Malaise Machines” column is more of a rose-tinted rearview mirror than a crystal ball. And peering into it back to the mid 1980s, I see a reinvigorated Chrysler Corp. that, under the leadership of cigar-chomping, limelight-loving Lee Iacocca, had narrowly escaped death and was thriving. The government-guaranteed private capital loans that had buoyed the company through its darkest moments had been repaid with interest by 1983. Chrysler was doing so well that, in 1987, it bought AMC.

A potential car buyer visiting a Chrysler showroom in the mid-to-late 1980s would find a vehicle to suit their needs, unless it was a truck or minivan. Dodge and Plymouth covered the utility vehicle market, and posh Chrysler Town & Country minivans wouldn’t hit showrooms until 1989 as 1990 models. Luxury cars such as the LeBaron and New Yorker were front and center, but Chrysler had edged into a more youthful market segment with cars such as the sporty LeBaron GTS sedan and Laser sports coupe.

The Laser is especially interesting in retrospect. With the Laser, Chrysler was fielding what amounted to a pony car. Chrysler was a “senior” nameplate, and as such, its products tended to skew toward the mature customer. Even the high-performance “Letter Cars” of the ’50s and ’60s were banker’s expresses — big and expensive. The Laser, by contrast, might appeal to the banker’s kid. Perhaps it’s not so surprising when considered in light of Iacocca’s involvement in bringing the original Ford Mustang to market.

The Chrysler Laser debuted in 1984, as did its sister car, the Dodge Daytona. Yes, they were K-car derivatives. No, they were not K-cars. To build the sporty duo, Chrysler took the versatile K platform and deducted 3 inches from the wheelbase to arrive at a stubby 97 inches between the axle centerlines. The firm’s solvency may have seemed stable by this point, but the economies of developing the new models from an existing platform couldn’t be overlooked. Still, the new, so-called “G-24” coupes had their own glass and sheet metal. Pure K-cars shared everything from the A-pillar forward and much else besides.

The Daytona and Laser are a master class in 1980s sporty coupe styling. The rectangular quad headlamps and chiseled droop-snoot front-end recall Camaros of the era, while the glasshouse and sharply raked B-pillar evoke various front-engined Porsches. Some might call it pastiche, but I think it works very well from an aesthetic standpoint. It was also functional; the cars had a 0.35 drag coefficient.

Chrysler turned up the wick as high as it could on the MacPherson strut front and flex-beam rear suspension systems inherited from the K-car. Engineers significantly stiffened the springs, and grippier tires were bolted on along with a fast-ratio steering rack that gave 2.5 turns lock-to-lock. Motive power was courtesy of the corporate 2.2-liter OHC four-cylinder, either with or without turbocharging. The naturally aspirated 2.2-liter mill was good for 97 hp; the turbo gave a respectable-for-the-period 146 hp, along with a useful 170 lb.-ft. of torque. A 100-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine was available later in the production run. Five-speed manual or three-speed automatic transaxles sent power to the front wheels.

Interior ambiance was perfectly in tune with the car’s sports coupe design brief. Deep, well-bolstered, low-mounted bucket seats helped locate front seat occupants during aggressive cornering, while a pair of “plus two” perches, better suited to a briefcase or small dog, catered to tagalongs. The dashboard and center stack were replete with a high-tech graph-paper-grid motif meant to suggest digital sophistication. A digital instrument cluster could be had, and it was one of the better ones. Another option so redolent of the early digital age was Electronic Voice Alert (EVA), a digitally synthesized voice that kept drivers informed about important information, such as engine temperature and fuel level.

A one-owner Laser

Chrysler’s youthful offering caught the eye of a Maryland MoPar enthusiast. He ordered this 1986 Laser from Fred Frederick Chrysler in Laurel, Md.

“I was about 30 and thought we needed something sporty to drive beside the minivan we had,” he says. “I didn’t want a digital dash and I didn’t want my car to talk to me, so I ordered a base model and added all the options,” he explains. This is why the black car has turbo power, leather seats and alloy wheels while technically being a base model.”

After nearly 40 years in the same hands, the car has mellowed nicely. The black paint has worn thin in spots after repeated polishing, and the black leather upholstery has acquired a few dignified creases, but there’s not a speck of rust to be seen. Its custodian explains that he often drove minivans in preference to the Laser, keeping it preserved. To date, it has covered less than 34,000 miles.

“It’s been very reliable,” he says, “I only had to replace a few ignition components early on, but other than that, nothing,” he says. “People told me I’d have trouble with the turbo.”

The engine was one of the first on the market with water-cooled turbo bearings, which no doubt contributed to its reliability. This particular car also has a slightly larger oil filter than standard.

“The threads are the same as a [Chrysler] V-8, but the filter is bigger, so I get a little more oil capacity,” the owner says. The grille on the hood is functional, directing air downward toward the turbocharger. However, this version of the engine doesn’t have the intercooler that would be used on later Chrysler turbo fours.”

When the Laser does get driven, it’s the car’s road manners that captivate. “I like the way it handles; it really grips the road,” the owner enthuses. But, he laments that he “can’t see anything in traffic,” a consequence of the Laser’s low build and roads that are, today, populated with overly tall station wagons called SUVs.

Today’s Perspective

It’s very easy, in retrospect, to sniff at a four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive pony car. But, to dismiss the Laser and its Dodge Daytona counterpart as merely a compromise forced on Chrysler by the economy of relying on a K platform derivative isn’t giving them their due.

Gas shortages were still fresh in public memory and the days of V-8-powered passenger cars were seen as numbered. The Camaro and Mustang had been offered with four-cylinder engines (turbocharged in the Mustang), and most Japanese sports coupes were four-cylinder-powered. While it’s true that many sports coupes remained rear-wheel drive, it was understood that front-drive models would probably replace them in time. The G-24 coupes were perfectly in tune with their time.

In speaking of the virtues of front-wheel drive and turbo fours, Ricardo Montalban summed it up best in advertisements when he mellifluously intoned: “Once you drive it, you’ll never go back to a V-8 again.” As an example of the breed, the Chrysler Laser remains a convincing argument to enjoy performance and style — efficiently. 

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Back in 2018, I received a phone call from Jason Billups of Billups Classic Cars in Colcord, Okla. Billups started the conversation with, “I found it.”

“You found what?” I asked.

“Little Red.”

A few weeks later, Billups, Todd Hollar and I were en route to a diner in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to meet with Terry Seale, “Little Red’s” owner. The goal of meeting Seale for breakfast at the diner wasn’t just to fill our bellies, but to become acquainted with him and possibly see the car that may very well be the elusive red 1967 Shelby Mustang coupe known in the Shelby community as “Little Red,” and more formally identified as the 1967 Shelby GT500 EXP coupe.

Apparently we’d been spreading butter on more than just our toast and toward the end of our meal, Seale invited us to see his red Mustang coupe. Until that day in 2018, Seale hadn’t allowed any outsiders to see the weathered Mustang parked in a field on his aunt’s property. Seale suspected his Mustang was a Shelby, but couldn’t prove it without expert help. That’s where Billups entered the picture.

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About 30 minutes into Billups’ verification process, he reached the conclusion that the serial number “7R01S133947” stamped into the car’s driver-side fender apron was indeed that of “Little Red,” the 1967 Shelby GT500 coupe prototype that many thought had been lost forever. My Sony HDR video camera and Nikon D700 were about to be a part of the process of documenting this important part of Shelby history.

Billups is considered an expert restorer of Shelby Mustangs. His knowledge of Shelby history puts him in a select group of specialists within the Shelby Mustang community. He restored his first Shelby, a Brittany Blue 1967 GT500, in 2005. Since then, he and his team at Billups Classic Cars have restored more than 50 Shelbys, including the 1967 GT500 EXP coupe known as “Little Red” and its “brother,” the 1968 GT500 EXP coupe with serial number 8F02S104288 known as “The Green Hornet.” The preproduction 1969 Shelby GT500 convertible, which Billups Classic Cars also restored, was the cover car of the May 24, 2018, issue of Old Cars. That 1969 Shelby GT500 preproduction car, known by the last four digits of its serial number (#2336), and the 1969 Shelby GT500 featured here (known as #0029, the last four digits of its serial number), originated from the same stable, as both are rare Ford and Shelby Engineering Test Cars.

Finding another pilot Shelby

During most of 2018 and 2019, I filmed, photographed and otherwise documented the restoration process of “The Green Hornet” and “Little Red” Shelby GT500 coupe prototypes at Billups Classic Cars. When Billups called me in August 2023 to say he was going to Grand Rapids, Mich., to inspect what he suspected was a 1969 Shelby GT500 Ford Engineering Pilot Test Car, I was on standby to begin repeating the visual documentation process of another important Shelby. Billups’ first follow-up phone call to me came the evening after he traveled to Grand Rapids to meet with the Knoll family. Billups had spent hours methodically inspecting their Shelby in its 38-year resting place within the historic brewery where recently deceased owner Kurt Knoll had stowed the car after buying it in 1985. At the conclusion of our phone conversation, Billups asked, “Can you meet me here next week to film, photograph and document the discovery and process of me pulling out the Shelby for a trip to its new home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma? The family decided to sell it and through me, Ken Timmons reached an agreement with the family (Kathy Knoll, Ken Knoll and Kolleen Bruinooge) to buy the Shelby. Casey Kelly and I will be there next Tuesday to pick it and the parts that go with it up. Can you make it?”

“I’ll be there,” I responded.

A scholarly Shelby

Montcalm Community College in Sidney, Mich., had received red Shelby GT500 fastback #0029 as a donation from Shelby Automotive in 1969. The Shelby had served as an educational vehicle within the college’s automotive education department until 1985. Its early-production serial number indicates it may have been a prototype for the 1969 model year. Montcalm Community College sold the Shelby at public auction in 1985 to raise funds for its automotive department. Kurt Knoll caught wind of it being for sale and showed up at the auction, bought it and left with his dream car.

The Ford Motor Co.’s Pilot Plant in Allen Park, Mich., where special non-assembly-line automobiles are constructed, originally produced the car as a Candyapple Red ’69 Mustang GT SportsRoof. From there, it was transported a very short distance to Shelby Automotive’s Michigan location where it received the GT500 styling and performance treatment. Shelby Automotive transformed it into a GT500 by plucking its S-Code 390-cid engine and replacing it with an R-Code 428-cid Cobra Jet engine. In addition, its factory four-speed manual transmission was replaced with a C6 automatic transmission. The factory air-conditioning system remained on the car when it became a Shelby GT500. According to information received from Ford Motor Co., Shelby #0029 is one of two 1969 Shelbys to have been built at the Pilot Plant and equipped with the factory S-code 390-cid engine, manual four-speed transmission and air conditioning. The GT500 was further equipped with a factory AM/FM radio, fold-down rear seat, tilt steering wheel and Deluxe interior. The car’s Marti Report confirms these features and further states the car was an introductory show unit to be delivered to Ford Motor Co.’s Allen Park facility, and its listed factory order type code of 480000 confirms it was destined for delivery to Shelby.

The second 1969 Shelby pilot car, 9S02S100026 (aka #0026), has an earlier VIN, but was likely produced at the Pilot Plant in conjunction with 9S02S100029. It’s believed to survive in Australia.

Ford Motor Co. Pilot Plant History

The Ford Pilot Plant facility, located at 17000 Oakwood Boulevard in Allen Park, Mich., was opened in the summer of 1956 as the original location for the newly created Continental Division, where all Continental Mark II cars were assembled. It was renamed the Edsel Division Headquarters until 1959, when the Edsel automobile was discontinued. The facility later became Ford Motor Co.’s New Model Programs Development Center, where new models continue to be tested and developed. The role of the Pilot Plant is to test the manufacture of new products for the first time. There, employees document the steps and procedures of manufacture before assembly-line production begins at another Ford Motor Co. factory. The Ford Pilot Plant can manufacture several vehicles at one time; products are moved from station to station on mobile carriages until the process is complete.

During my 27-year career at Ford Motor Co.’s Wixon Assembly Plant, I had interactions with the Pilot Plant and visited it numerous times. As a manager at Wixom, I was required to make occasional trips to the Pilot Plant facility with other managers and team members prior to the launch of the DEW-98 Lincoln LS. These in-person meetings to the facility were referred to as “fit and finish meetings,” as part of the company’s continuous improvement initiative. These meetings allowed engineers, suppliers, vendors, technicians, supervisors, managers and others from the team to get a firsthand look at the new product(s) in a controlled environment without disrupting the normal production-line process at other assembly plants. The Pilot Plant was instrumental in allowing the team to have a hands-on approach at how newly designed components fit and the process to build a new automobile, such as the Lincoln LS we were building at the Wixom Assembly Plant.

One pilot leads to another

Back in 2016, Billups and his Billups Classic Cars team successfully unveiled the black 1969 Shelby GT500 convertible Ford Engineering Test Car with serial number 9F03Q102336 at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) in Rosemont, Ill. During the event, a person approached Billups and showed him an old Polaroid picture of a 1969 Shelby GT500. The car was buried under boxes and other debris that concealed it from anyone who might pass through the building where it was stowed. The person presented the picture and said, “I know the whereabouts of this ’69 Shelby GT500 and it might be related to the one you and your team unveiled at MCACN.”

Upon seeing the Polaroid, Billups’ curiosity was piqued. Once back home and settled into his office, Billups began researching this intriguing ’69 Shelby GT500. He came across the name Kurt Knoll as the owner of 1969 Shelby GT500 “9S02S100029,” and using the internet and other resources, he found a phone number for Knoll in Grand Rapids.

In early 2017, Billups and Knoll spoke for the first time. They had four conversations over several years, and each time they talked about the GT500 and its potentially unique place in Shelby history. At no time did they discuss the possibility of a sale, and Knoll never indicated the GT500 was for sale. He did indicate a plan to restore the car, and that he’d been acquiring parts to make that happen. Billups hoped to one day get an invite from Knoll to inspect the car in person, but it turns out very few people had ever seen the car during Knoll’s ownership, let alone sat in it.

Knoll’s younger sister, Kolleen Bruinooge, happened to be at their father’s house the day Knoll rolled up in the red Shelby after buying it in 1985.

“I asked if I could sit in it,” she recently recalled. “Kurt pointed to the passenger-side front seat, told me to get in — ‘But don’t touch anything.’ I got in, sat in the seat, looked everything over, then got out. And I didn’t touch anything. It was the only time I was ever allowed to sit in the car. It breaks my heart that he never had a chance to put it back together. That car was his baby.”

Unfortunately, Knoll passed away in 2022 and the Shelby remained partially disassembled and sitting in the same old brewery building that he acquired several months after his 1985 purchase of the car.

A stable for a thoroughbred

In 1866, Peter Weirich opened Valley City Brewery in Grand Rapids, Mich., and operated it out of a 70-x-60-foot building three-and-half-stories high with a 54-x-78-foot wing. It was connected to another building that served as an icehouse and stable. The stable sheltered the horses that pulled wagons transporting beer products from the brewery. It seemed only fitting that a thoroughbred Shelby would be stored in this stable.

After walking through the icehouse during the recent discovery and removal process of the Shelby GT500, it became clear the blocks of ice and hay bales would have been stored on the second level, then lowered down to the main floor from an overhead trap door. This same opening was used to lower the Shelby’s 428-cid engine block from the second floor during the car’s removal process. Apparently Knoll had stored the engine block and many other parts for the Shelby on the second floor for safe keeping.

Knoll received formal automotive mechanic’s training at Grand Rapids Junior College and used his skill to open Grand Center Automotive at what had been Valley City Brewery. As a young boy, he and his father, Ken Knoll, Sr., took a liking to go-cart racing. Knoll was a locally successful go-cart racer and earned many wins on the track. His love for gas-powered racing go-carts carried over to high-performance automobiles with Ford Mustangs, Shelbys being his favorite type. Knoll owned a Grabber Blue ’71 Mach 1, and his family recalls it was his favorite until the Shelby finally came along and “Kurt had his dream car,” his sister recalls.

A Shelby’s next step

Much of the credit for Jason Billups being asked to see the GT500 and validating its Shelby authenticity goes to Lowell Otter, the owner of a 1967 Shelby GT500 prototype. After hearing about the passing of Knoll in 2022, Otter reached out to the Knoll family. In February, he was allowed to see the 1969 GT500, and the family entrusted him to help assess it and everything within the building where it had been sitting for the past 38 years.

Knoll’s siblings asked Otter if he knew of anyone with the professional expertise to evaluate the GT500 and go through all the parts. His response to them was, “Yes, I’d recommend calling Jason Billups and seeing what it would take to get him to come here to see the Shelby in person.” Acting on behalf of the Knoll family, Otter contacted Billups, and not long after, Billups was on a flight to Grand Rapids.

During the evaluation process, the Knolls mentioned they were going to sell the Shelby GT500 and asked if Billups could tell them what it was worth. He told them what he thought they could get for it and then added, “I might know someone who will give you what I quoted you.” Billups contacted Ken Timmons and a deal was struck.

The current plan for the ’69 Shelby GT500 is to leave it as found. From Nov. 18-19 of this year, it will be part of the barn find display at MCACN (www.mcacn.com). After MCACN, it will return to Billups Classic Cars and undergo a rotisserie restoration. Once the restoration is completed, Billups and Timmons would like it to return to MCACN for one of the show’s official post-restoration unveilings, with the Knoll family taking part in the process.

I plan to follow the restoration and happenings related to this historic 1969 Shelby GT500 Ford Engineering Pilot Test Car, including its possible MCACN unveiling. A cover story in Old Cars will follow the completion of the restoration, and that story will highlight all the unique features of this pilot car as they are uncovered during the restoration process. Stay tuned! 

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This awesome ’69 Camaro was apparently re-done as a COPO clone and is currently owned by the same Kentucky dealership that sold it originally!

It was a 427 car originally and has been given a 454 V-8 by a previous owner. It’s got a 4-speed, limited-slip differential, rear spoiler, cowl-induction hood, Hurst shifter … and it would surely look and sound awesome rolling up to the local cruise-in.

Man, we’d love to take this baby out and scare a few local punks at some stoplights in town. Yeah, it’s sort of a tribute kinda car … but anytime we hear “COPO” and “Camaro” in the same sentence, we’re in!

This white stallion is for sale on Bringatrailer.com. Last time we checked the bidding was at $25,000. We’ll be fascinated to see what it sells for.

CHECK IT OUT

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Here is what he had to say about his Trans Am…

“I’m now at 65 years of age, and I have owned this car’s second owner.  I bought it from a Pontiac dealer when it was a mere 5-years-old. I was just 18 at the time and traded in a Volkswagen Beatle for the purchase! The car was driven one winter and then started storing it for 2 winters before I stored it permanently for the next 40 years. I decided to pull it out of storage and restore it back for my retirement to once again enjoy it.”

If you would like your car featured in Reader Wheels click on the link below and tell us a little bit about your ride.

CLICK HERE

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It took quite a while, but Bill Person Jr., and his dad, Bill Sr., eventually got Grandma’s Firebird back on the road.

It all started when Milwaukee, Wis., resident Shirley Nelson cracked up her car back 1967. The little mishap changed her life in more ways than one.

“She had a car accident, and that’s how she met my soon-to-be-grandfather,” chuckles Bill, Jr. “She eventually married the gentleman, and I was born three years later. I knew him as my grandfather until he died in 1986.”

“So she wound up searching for a replacement car, and she bought this new on April 28, 1967,” he adds proudly, pointing at the silver 1967 Firebird coupe that is still in the family.

From there, the car went to Bill Jr.’s mother. Sort of.

“The car started rotting out and they wanted something newer, and my mother at the time did not have her license and in 1978 my dad bought the car from my grandmother so my mother could learn how to drive,” Person recalls. “Well, she never drove the Firebird. It sat in the garage. My dad drove it for a little while, but mostly it just sat there.”

That went on for about 10 years, and then young and ambitious Bill Jr. decided that the car was worth restoring and took it all apart. He had it almost completely disassembled, sandblasted the subframe and did some other heavy lifting before he eventually wound up running low on time and resources to continue the restoration. 

“I was an 18-, 19-year-old kid and life happens, you know?” he laughs. “It was terrible. The rear quarters were all rotted out. No exhaust on it. The front fenders had holes in ’em. The doors had holes in ’em. The only saving grace was one time she had the oil changed in the motor and they didn’t put the drain plug in tight enough. The drain plug came off and coated the whole undercarriage with oil and she seized the motor. So she had the motor rebuilt before my dad got it, and the only saving grace to it is the car has all its original floor pans because they were coated with oil. And the rockers are original, too.”

Person says the car remained in pieces for more than 25 years until Bill Sr. finally came to the Firebird’s rescue for good. 

“In about 2015 he decided, ‘I’m gonna stick some money into it and restore it,’ and I’m luck, ‘Go for it! I seem to have failed.’” 

With that, the pair gathered up the entire project and handed it off to TLC Restorations, an excellent collector resto shop in Milton, Wis. By the time TLC was done with it, the 80,000-mile Firebird looked almost new again. The end result gave both father and son plenty of affirmation that the ’67 was worth keeping in the family.

BRINGING BACK THE ‘BIRD

Ford changed the landscape of America car-building for good with the mid-1964 introduction of the Mustang. General Motors needed about three years to deliver an answer, and part of its reply was the Firebird, which officially arrived on Feb. 23, 1967. It was Pontiac’s version of Chevy’s new Camaro dressed up with a Poncho-style split grille, different engines and transmissions and a few suspension tweaks.

Pontiac offered the sporty ‘Bird in five flavors — base, Sprint, 326, 326 H.O. and 400 — created by tacking regular production options onto the same basic car. The options created distinctive packages that were merchandised as separate models. Bucket seats were standard in all Firebirds. Design characteristics of the ‘67s included vent windows and three vertical air slots on the fear fenders.

The base 230-cid six-cylinder produced a modest 165-hp. The more spirted Sprints featured a 215-hp overhead-cam six with a four-barrel carburetor. A floor-mounted three-speed manual gearbox and heavy-duty suspension were standard. A Firebird Sprint convertible cost $3,019 and a coupe was $2,782.

Firebird 326s featured a 250-hp version of the 326-cid Tempest V-8 with a two-barrel carburetor. The convertible cost $2,998 and the coupe was $2,761. Firebird 326 H.O.s used a 285-hp version of the same V-8 with a 10.5:1 compression ratio and four-barrel carburetor. A column-shifted three-speed manual transmission, dual exhausts, H.O. stripes, a heavy-duty battery and wide-oval tires were standard. The H.O. convertible cost $3,062 and the coupe cost $2,825.

The performance version of the 1967 Firebird was the 400. It featured a 325-hp version of the 400-cid GTO V-8. Standard equipment included a dual-scoop hod, chrome engine parts, three-speed heavy-duty floor shift and sport-type suspension. Prices were about $100 higher than a comparable 326 H.L Options included Ram -Air induction, which gave 325 and cost more than $600.

Other popular add-ons included air-conditioning ($355.98), power brakes ($41.60), front disc brakes ($63,19), power steering ($94.97), power windows ($100.05), power top ($52.66), vinyl top ($84.26), fold-down rear seat ($36.86), hood tachometer ($63.19), console with bucket seats and floor shift ($47.39), cruise control ($53), head rests ($42), remote control trunk lid ($13), rally gauge cluster ($84), reclining right hand seat ($84), AM/FM radio ($134), stereo tape player ($128), tilt steering ($42), 3-speed with floor shift ($42), 3-speed synchromesh ($84), 4-speed manual ($184), automatic transmission with V-8 ($195), wire wheel discs ($53), Rally 1 wheels ($40), and Rally II wheels ($56).

A SILVER HEIRLOOM

Time and Wisconsin winters did a number of the sheet metal of the Persons’ Pontiac, but the interior remains almost all-original, as is the drive train (although the engine was rebuilt after the oil plug mishap). The Firebird’s condition is truly impressive; it would make no apologies on any show field. And the fact that it is a very well-preserved six-cylinder makes it even more unique.

“The seats are original. The door panels are all original. The arm rests are reproduction,” Bill Jr. says. “The carpet is reproduction. It came with floormats and these are reproduction floormats. We do have one floormat left, but it’s in really bad shape. The original spare is still in the trunk! The clock doesn’t work. I’m going to get a quartz kit one of these days and fix that. It hasn’t worked in a long time. The AM radio does work, but it’s got a replacement speaker. The windshield glass is new, otherwise all the glass is original.”

“Otherwise, everything is pretty much as stock. Two-speed automatic. Super-Turbine 300 transmission with its original 2.56 open rear end. This thing so great on the highway! If I hold her to the board she’ll do 60 [mph] and then shift into second!”

Bill Sr. decided to swap out the original front drum brakes in favor of power disc units. That’s about the only nod to non-originality on the entire car. Bill Jr. says the car is a hoot drive when it’s running right, but it was probably a little temperamental towards Grandma on the chilliest days of winter.

“She’s a cold-blooded b—h. She does not like to run cold,” he chuckles. “But once she’s warmed up and running down the road, she runs great.”

There were plenty of early Firebirds that qualified as muscle cars back in the day. The debut six-cylinder Firebird was not one of them, but it certainly was a sweet-looking and sweet-driving car for its time. The fact that the go-fast crowd all seemed to opt for the V-8s at the dealers — or in engine swaps later on — has made the surviving sixes scarce these days. One-family trophies like the Person family’s eye-catching silver ’67 stand out in any crowd.

“[The sixes] are starting to become a little more prevalent,” Bill Jr. says. “Ten years ago there wasn’t many, but they are starting to become a little more popular and people are starting to appreciate them.”

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You’d think Paul Stewart would have some bad memories of his 1994 Ford Mustang GT convertible. Sure, it was his first new car, and it was a very cool ride for a young car geek to get his hands on. But the car didn’t have a very long life, and its last day on the road was not a pleasant one.

“I bought it brand new in the spring of 1995. It was a dealer demo car, had 6,000 miles on it,” recalls Stewart, a resident of Greendale, Wis. “… It was one of the Indy Pace Car festival cars, so it was one of 1,000 cars that they made just to take celebrities around and what-not during the race an then distributed them to dealerships to sell.”

“I drove it almost 9,000 miles that first summer and fall, and I drove it that entire next summer and I was getting ready to put it into storage and an 84-year-old guy ran a stop sign and T-boned me. He hit me on one side and pushed me into another car. So I got hit by an F-150 on one side and another guy on the other side, so the car was completely totaled out.”

Stewart is a consummate car guy; he figures he’s bought and sold about 40 of them over the years. He’s done meticulous ground-up restorations and resurrected hot MoPars to concours quality. He’s had beaters, drivers, show cars, and everything in between over the years. He’s had several hot Mustangs, too, but he never realized how much he wanted to replace his bright red ’94 Mustang GT convertible a friend told him about one he had seen for sale.

“As you get older you start getting nostalgic and that was my very first car I bought brand new, and it was the first convertible I ever had,” he says. “So finally a friend of mine said, ‘Hey, there is one for sale on Facebook Marketplace, you should check it out.’ So I went and looked at it and the rest is history. I bought it and drove it home.”

“I hadn’t really been looking, that one just came out of the blue. I couldn’t pass it up. It was an original owner car. The guy I bought it from, his mother-in-law bought it brand new. When she couldn’t drive it anymore he took it over from her. It was a small town just east of Indianapolis. It was about a four-hour drive one way to get there. This was in October of 2021. I hadn’t really been looking, but this one was the exact same color combination, same options, everything, as my other one. It just fit the bill perfectly. I got real nostalgic real fast!”

Ironically, Stewart says he wasn’t really looking for a ’94 Mustang GT the first time he bought one, either. Both of them have sort of turned out to be impulse buys.

“I was always in love with those Fox bodies, but when they redesigned this car, it was completely different. I fell in love with it. This was on the lot [back in 1995] when I was going to look at a Fox body that they had, and I looked at both of them together and just fell in love with this. It was ‘Car of the Year’ back in 1994… but it’s completely different from the Fox body, and it drives like a Cadillac.”

The Big 3-0

Automakers don’t often want to “mess with a good thing,” but for 1994, Mustang’s 30th anniversary, FoMoCo decided to end the Fox body’s run and unveil a whole new high-tech pony car.

“Team Mustang,” a group of Ford employees dedicated to the new car’s concept and design, set up camp in an old Montgomery Ward warehouse south of Dearborn late in 1990. While the project was referred to as “SN-95” (sporty, North American market, concept no. 95), the platform on which the new car was designed was known as the Fox-4. Of the SN-95’s 1,850 parts, 1,330 were new. The new bodies were made stiffer in a variety of ways, including bonding the windshield and backlight to their frames with a rigid urethane adhesive and by enlarging certain box sections as the rocker panels and roof rails. On the GT V-8 models, there was a bolt-in brace tying the front strut towers and cowl/firewall together. This was supposed to take the flex out of the car under during hard cornering. The open-air convertible used a thicker gauge of metal in the rocker panels (from 0.8 to 2.3 mm) as well as other stress-bearing panels. To reduce noise, a 25-pound tuned mass damper was installed inside the right front fender well.

The Mustang’s new appearance was not radical in any particular way and the hope was that it would appeal to almost any potential buyer. Aerodynamic headlights sat on either side of a curved grille cavity that, when combined with the smooth bumper cover and integrated air dam, provided a pleasant, smiling face. The sloping hood was in better proportion to the rest of the car, and the curvy top complemented the rounder body. Three-element taillights (lying horizontal on the 1994, unlike the 1965’s vertical units) recalled some of the Mustang’s early heritage and contributed to the impression of great body width when viewed from directly behind. A classic twin-cockpit theme ran throughout the new interior.

The 1994 Mustang measured 2.4 inches longer (181.5 inches bumper-to-bumper) than the first Fox car. Wheelbase increased between the two models by 0.9 inches to a total of 101.3. The most striking dimension change was in the width, wherein the 1994 was a muscular 71.9 inches compared to the slab-sided 1979’s 69.1 inches. The 1994 Mustang’s roofline was 1.4 inches higher than the 1979 at 52.9 inches.

Engines were upgraded slightly, with the four-cylinder now gone, replaced by the same 3.8-liter 145-hp V-6 that was already doing duty in Ford’s Taurus, Thunderbird, and Lincoln Continental. The 5.0-liter H.O. V-8 grew to 215 hp at 4200 rpm thanks to a low-profile intake manifold and lighter pistons.

Buyers of the base V-6 cars received 15-inch steel wheels with plastic covers and 205/65-15 all-season black sidewall Goodyear Eagle GA tires. As an option, those tires could be mounted on three-spoke, 15-inch alloy wheels. Standard GT wheels were five-spoke, 16-inch rims wearing 225/55-16 Firestone Firehawk rubber. An optional upgrade for the GT was a set of three-spoke 17-inchers shod with 245/45-17 Goodyear Eagle GTs. Four-wheel disc brakes were applied to factory Mustangs for the first time in 1994 on both base and GT cars. This piece of standard equipment had been long in coming as far as Mustang fans were concerned. ABS was an extra-cost option.

Convertibles also had a power retractable soft top with a hard convertible top boot, illuminated visor mirrors, power deck lid release, power door locks and power side windows. The 1994 was Ford’s first post-1973 Mustang convertible to be built as a topless car on the factory assembly line; earlier ragtops started life as coupes and had their roofs removed. A glass backlight was standard, with a built-in defroster costing extra. Convertible tops came in black, white, or saddle.

The automotive trend toward bright, vibrant colors was not lost on Ford’s planners. The 1994 Mustang could be ordered in one of 11 eye-catching hues, including Canary Yellow (GT only), Vibrant Red (GT only), Rio Red, Laser Red, Iris, Bright Blue, Deep Forest Green, Teal, Black, Opal Frost, and Crystal White. Interiors were available in five colors: Bright Red, Saddle, Opal Grey, Black, and White (convertible only).

In addition to (or in place of) standard equipment, the GT coupe ($17,270) and convertible ($21,960) had front and rear fascias with GT nomenclature and black finish on the lower rear end; Mustang GT fender badges; fog lamps; a single-wing rear spoiler; 16×7.5-inch wide five-spoke cast aluminum wheels with locks; a 150-mph speedometer; GT bucket seats with cloth trim, cloth head restraints, adjustable cushions, power lumbar support, and a four-way power driver’s seat; a leather-wrapped steering wheel; a Traction-Lok rear axle; handling brace to stiffen the engine compartment (“similar to those utilized by Ford NASCAR teams,” said the brochure); stainless steel dual exhaust system; GT suspension package with variable-rate coil springs, unique-calibrated gas struts and shocks, and Quadra-shock rear suspension with strut lever brace; and illuminated visor mirrors with hard covers.

One option that will be of particular interest to collectors is the short-lived removable hardtop offered to convertible buyers. Supply problems and the high cost of the option killed the company’s enthusiasm and only 499 were delivered—all on the pricier SVT Cobras, and not until the 1995 model year.

The 1994 Mustang was also the first Ford to offer a dealer-installed mini-disc sound system, as well as a new Mach 460 system that used eight speakers to put out 460 peak watts of sound. The all-new Mustang readily won Motor Trend magazine’s “Car of the Year” award, and it became the Indianapolis 500 pace car for the third time since 1964.

The model year closed with a total sales run of 123,198 units. That number included 42,883 base coupes ($13,355), 18,333 base convertibles ($20,150), 30,592 GT coupes ($17,270), 25,381 GT convertibles ($21,950), 5,009 Cobra coupes ($21,300) and 10,000 Cobra convertibles ($25,605).

Return to the ’90s

Stewart’s second 1994 Mustang GT is exactly like his first one, except for the Indy Pace Car graphics — which he never stuck on his first one, anyway. It’s a convertible with an automatic transmission, leather interior, and Mach 460 Sound System. The only change he has made to the car is swapping out the rims and tires. 

“The original Tri-Bars were cool back in the day, but they are heavy and kind of clunky, and the tires that were on it were clunky tires, so I definitely thought we needed some new shoes,” he says. “I got all new rotors, calipers, rims and tires. These are larger 19-inch [rims], so it has a little nicer ride, and these tires are much nicer than the ones that were on it. It’s more of a modern Shelby-style rim, that’s why I opted for that.”

Stewart is one of those super-tidy, uber-organized guys who keeps everything squeaky clean. You could eat pancakes off his garage floor. He pretty much treats his red Mustang the same way, and it is in impeccable shape.

“I’m done with it. There is not much more I can do to it,” he laughs. “I’ve got the engine cleaned up, got the interior cleaned up. Buffed the paint really well. It’s looking a heckuva lot nicer than when I got it. Just a lot of cleaning and detailing, that was really all that needed to be done to the car. It’s looking good.”

Stewart has had more than his share of rough, rowdy 1960s and early ’70s muscle cars over the years — cars that you frankly wouldn’t want to drive too long or too far these days. His ’94 Mustang GT is totally different. It’s a car he’s eager to jump in any day there isn’t salt or snow on the road and drive pretty much anywhere.

“It’s so comfortable. You can ride it in all day,” he says. “It’s a beautiful car to drive. They always had a nice sound, and it’s aerodynamic when you are on the freeway with the top down; you don’t get any turbulence in the cabin. It’s just a pleasure to drive.”

Stewart chuckles at the thought that 1990s Mustang GTs, which seemed hot and new not that long ago, have now graduated into the collector car realm. It makes guys like me enjoy them even more — both as hobby toys and regular transportation.

“Now they are getting past 25 years old — once you get to that 25-, 30-year mark you start getting people wanting to relive their old days,” he says. “Back when I was young and single. Young and single, and a fat wallet!” 

SHOW US YOUR WHEELS!

If you’ve got an old car you love, we want to hear about it. Email us at oldcars@aimmedia.com

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The post Car of the Week: 1994 Ford Mustang GT convertible appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

Leonard Pittman stumbled on a real time machine of a car. This Poncho was found after sitting for over 30 years and only a little over 42k on the clock. Nice!

Here is what Leonard had to say about his prized Poncho droptop…

“This one-owner car was purchased in June of 1968 from Lexington Motor Sales in Lexington, Virginia as a high school graduation gift for the owner’s daughter. The car was parked in the family’s dairy barn in 1991. The daughter retained ownership of the car until we purchased it in late 2020 after it had been sitting for nearly 30 years, with 42,250 actual miles. The car is almost entirely original, including paint, interior, and convertible top. Aside from cosmetic enhancements and replacement of certain limited-lifetime components, the engine and transmission have not been touched. Certain suspension components were updated and power front disc brakes added, along with dual exhaust. Vintage Rally II wheels and period-correct redline radial tires were installed, and the original deluxe steering wheel was restored. All updates were done using period-correct components when possible.

• Matching numbers, 350 CU.IN. 2 barrel V-8, two-speed automatic transmission

• Factory options include AM radio, floor console, rear speaker, door edge guards, remote mirror power steering, power convertible top, custom trim group, and floor mats.”

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Tony Dreier doesn’t mind driving his fabulous 1966 GT-350 Shelby Mustang around and having some fun with it. He actually drove it regularly for years before he restored it.

But Dreier jokes that “I try not to have it out of my sight too long,” and you can’t really blame him. He isn’t paranoid or overly protective, it’s just that his Shelby has a bit of a star-crossed past. It was apparently stolen several times during its early days. It’s been chased, shot at, kidnapped, repainted, recovered and eventually banished to a salvage yard. Dreier, a resident of Clintonville, Wis., doesn’t expect the Mustang to ever go missing again while he still has the title, but you never know.

“It’s a little sketchy. I only have information from the guy I bought it from. It was bought brand new [in San Antonio, Texas] and it was stolen once or twice or three times, he wasn’t even sure, and the insurance company paid out on it a couple of times, and after about the third or fourth time they scrapped it and took it to a place called Apache Salvage Yard in San Antonio,” Dreier says. “A guy named Lee Eubanks must have bought it from the salvage yard, and whoever had stolen it last had painted it green. They must have figured that would camouflage it. I know that for a fact because I did see some green overspray in the trunk when I took the car apart.”

Dreier is a devoted Mustang enthusiast who already had a pair of beautiful 1966 Hi-Po Mustang GTs when he decided to try to track down a Shelby. That was back in 1988. He passed on one “fixer-upper” Shelby and tried to pass on a second one, but fate seemed to bring them together.

“Actually, I saw an ad in Olds Cars … A friend of mine helped put me on to one in Ohio, I believe is where it was. It was very rusty and needed a lot of love. … I walked away from that,” he says. “ He was asking 6,500 bucks for it, and I walked away! I think I could have given him $5,000 and he would have taken it! Then a few weeks later I found out about this one in San Antonio and I talked to the guy on the phone. He said he had two would-be buyers coming so he said ‘Let me call you back.’ Well, when he called me back he said ‘Those two guys didn’t take it, so if you want to come and take a look at it you’re welcome to.’ I figured right then and there that the car must be in rough shape, otherwise the other guys would have bought it.”

“When I got down there I could see it was in pretty bad shape, and I had a round-trip ticket, and I said ‘Maybe just take me back to the airport and I’ll continue my search.’ So then he said, ‘Why don’t you make me a lesser offer,’ so I made him another offer. He said bump it up another $500 and we got a deal. I thought, what the heck, it will get me back to Wisconsin, so why not? So I bought it and drove it all the way home, 27 hours back from San Antonio!”

The ’66 GT-350 had 130,000 miles on the clock at the time and had probably deserved a better life than it had been provided in its first 22-plus years. But the Shelby lucked out and landed with a guy who loved ’66 Mustangs, and Dreier quickly began stockpiling parts for a restoration he knew he would tackle some day.

In the shorter term, however, Dreier decided he wasn’t going to let the GT-350 sit. There was no use in babying it, so he got some use out of it. 

“I used to drive as a regular driver every day [laughs]. Oh yeah, I used to take it to the grocery story. Well, it had a lot of nicks and chips, so I thought, well the car can’t be hurt anymore than it is, and I know I’m going to restore it, so why not go ahead and drive it?”

CAROL SHELBY’S NEED FOR SPEED

Carol Shelby’s big factory Mustang adventure officially began in December of 1964 when production of the 1965 GT-350s began. By then, of course, Shelby had already made a big name for himself as a successful race driver, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959, and as the brains behind the lethal Shelby Cobras that eventually dominated the Grand Prix racing scene. Shelby’s next big challenge came after his company received an initial fleet of 110 Wimbledon White Mustang fastbacks from the San Jose, Calif., factory that were equipped with the 289-cid, 271-hp K-Code V-8. This was 10 more units than were needed to make the GT-350 eligible to compete in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) racing.

The conversion process included removing or deleting many stock Mustang parts that added weight, including hoods, exhaust systems and grille bars. Fiberglass hoods were bolted on and fiberglass shelves replaced the backseat. The cars were painted with Guardsman Blue stripes on the rocker panels and door bottoms and given 10-inch Le Mans stripes on the hoods. They also got special GT-350 identification inside and out.

Under the hood, the GT-350s received a “Cobra” aluminum high-rise intake manifold, Holley four-barrel carburetor, special cast aluminum finned valve covers, “Tri-Y” headers, better breathing mufflers with dual side pipes and a cast-aluminum 6.5-quart oil pan. Output was advertised at 306 hp. Shifting was done with done through a Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed. The stock 15 x 5 ½-inch wheels were often swapped for American Racing or Crager models. The tires were state-of-the-art Goodyear Blue Dots.

Production that first year wound up being 562 GT-350s — a figure that included 521 GT-350s, 34 GT-350Rs and four special drag racing cars.

For 1966, Shelby made some changes to its production process and logistics, and also made some efforts to deal with the car’s biggest issues — they rode rough with their competition suspensions and Detroit Locker rear axles, they were pricey, and Ford mechanics weren’t particularly eager (or qualified) to work on them.

Dealers hoped to be able to offer customers four-seaters that were more comfortable and practical than the racy ’65s. Shelby responded by making the Detroit Locker axle optional and replacing the traction over-ride bars with units that were easier to install. Koni adjustable shocks were eventually discontinued and the expensive wooden steering wheels were replaced with GT-type wheels with GT-350 emblems. The Guardsman Blue side stripes were now made of tape, and the GT-350s were offered in Candy Apple Red, Sapphire Blue, Envy Green and Raven Black, in addition to Wimbledon White. A C-4 hi-po automatic transmission was put on the options list and an AM radio became optional halfway through the year.

Toward the end of the production run, Shelby also offered a Paxton supercharger for an extra $670. Only 11 GT-350s were believed to have gotten the superchargers.

The base price of the 1966 GT-350 dropped about $119 to $4,428 for the coupe. A total of 2,374 fastbacks and four convertibles were built for the model year. That total included 1,001 special GT-350H versions that were sold to Hertz to be used as rental cars.

TOUGH TIMES IN TEXAS

Dreier’s car was delivered to Hemphill-McCombs Ford in San Antonio on January 6, 1967. It included a rear seat for $40 and an AM radio for $45.45. The total dealer invoice on the car, with delivery charges, was $3,049.25.

The car had various minor repairs done to it very early on, from the information Dreier received. It had a hole in the differential welded up, the radio was sent out to be fixed, and some weather stripping was repaired, all within the first 2,205 miles.

There were other minor repairs, too, and for some reason the car was also repainted. The details are unclear, but this was probably about the time the car started getting stolen with some regularity. In 1971, it wound up in a local salvage yard without the engine and transmission. It was soon purchased by Eubanks, who pieced the car back together to some degree, then sold again in 1983 to Ken Anders, who repainted the car its original red. Anders then sold the Shelby to Dreier five years later.

“It was advertised as a restored car, but it was in pretty rough shape,” Dreier recalled. “[The driver’s side] rear quarter panel was sectioned, so it must have got tapped in the back end one time. I put two new quarter panels on it … I had two NOS quarter panels which were very hard to get back them. When I got it I bought a whole bunch of NOS parts for it: door handles, gas cap, and the taillights … and put them all away because I knew I was going to restore it some day. Then finally one day, in about 2012, I got a little nervous because I wasn’t doing much and I started ripping it all apart and working on it.”

“I basically disassembled it and anything that needed attention got attention. I had it down the bare frame … I have two friend that have an auto body shop, and they don’t do restorations, but I said ‘If I get this car prepped and have it ready for paint, would you guys paint it?’ And they said yeah, they would do it. So they painted it for me.”

Aside from installing new carpeting, Dreier didn’t have to do much to the interior. The upholstery and dash still look great and are original, as far as he knows. He replaced much of the wiring using a donor car, and also re-mounted the body side scoops ahead of the rear fenders, which had been “mudded into the car” at some point in the past. 

“And I put some nice Koni shocks in and a modern battery. I think I worked on this one for three years. It wasn’t bad. The nice thing about southern cars is you never have to fire up a torch to get any bolts loose because everything is rust-free.”

Dreier also considered himself lucky that he didn’t have to do any engine or transmission rebuilding. He did verify that the drive train was not original, and he also discovered the GT-350 had originally been an automatic car that had been converted to a four-speed.

“It came out of Shelby American with an automatic. I didn’t know that when I bought it, but I wanted a four-speed car and I assumed it was a four-speed car, but it was actually an automatic converted to a four-speed,” he said.

“It’s not a numbers-matching engine. Visibly, it looks right, and it’s got the Hi-Po heads on it, but in the bottom it’s got stock rods in it that are balanced. When I restored the car I had the engine out and took a look myself and the guy that I bought it from was from was honest. He told me it’s a built and balanced 289… I really didn’t touch the engine and transmission …Visibly it’s 100 percent correct. I have the correct intake, correct carburetor and I have the correct Hi-Po heads. And I know the rear end is the original Ford 9-inch.”

As a reminder of the car’s rather colorful past, Dreier decided to leave the scuffed driver’s side window in place. 

“Apparently one of the times it was stolen, the cops were after it and they were trying to shoot the tires out. I’m thinking they must have been trying to shoot the driver out because those are buckshot marks on the window,” he says. “I have new glass for it, but I’m going to leave the history.”

Dreier chuckles at the notion that the GT-350s were built to be fast, responsive, good-handling cars in their day. Standards have certainly changed in that regard.

“You know, these are old-time cars, they don’t drive like new ones. It’s not bad, but it’s nothing like a new car that is tight and handles and steers so well. These are more of a handful.”

If Dreier wants to head out for an exhilarating ride, he has multiple choices these days. In addition to his fabulous ’66 Shelby, he has a ’66 Mustang GT, a pair of 1986 Mustang SVOs and an ’86 Mustang GT. 

“I just sold one. I had six Mustangs and that’s too many,” he jokes.

Dreier has certainly gotten his money’s worth out of his Shelby. He still feels fortunate that the previous owner talked him into buying the car, and ponders how many other similar cars wound up in scrap yards, fields or sheds and were never saved.

“I often wonder how many got squashed. I have a registry book and there’s a lot of them with no history and a lot of cars they have no clue where they are or who owns them,” he says. “They were just a cheap Mustang back in the day and nobody thought they’d ever get to be too valuable.”

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