Charlie Safari
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2014
- Messages
- 67
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- New Zealand
- My Car
- Long Love affair with a 71 Coupe now over, but looking to start a new one soon!
Hi Guys
Just a quick hello, I'm hoping to fill a 71-73 Mustang shaped hole in my life very shortly, it's a long story how I got involved with them but here goes.
I was a kid in Tredegar, South Wales
American cars were far and few between. One day as a little kid a Brown 71 Grande drove past me, and I thought, thats me, and I became car obsessed overnight. It was a 6 cyl in Brown then jacked up with some cool dude wearing a leather jacket at the wheel.
Some years later, my best mate (also car obsessed) told me about a few American cars parked in a shed at the other end of town, so we decided to ride down on our BMX the next weekend, true to his word there was Smooth Torquer The 71 Grande, now Green and in Full 70's show trim, jacked up on Craigers with a draylon Interior, sidepipes and now running a 390, a 76 Camaro and a 71 Charger being worked on in a garage by three guys. We said hello and asked if we could help, as long as we were careful we could.
So I got to know Dave Morris and spent all my teenage years down his garage on the weekends helping out, and learning just about everything about cars and car movies, and of course music, Dave collected records, and lent me them to tape, I can't even look at a 71 Notch without Communication breakdown playing in my head
Dave got the raw end of the deal, having to answer all my stupid questions like "if its got more than one exhaust, does it make it faster" "do cars go as fast as the speedo?" "Who's Jimi Hendrix, and why did he sing about an Electric Landlady" etc and he mostly had to feed me as well as his own kids. In exchange he got a poor gofer a reasonable tea maker, and a pretty good duster.
When he sold Smooth Torquer in 1989, I tried to raise the funds to buy it, but sadly everybody in my family thought (and still do) I was insane for loving old thirsty American cars. Oh and my weekend car washing job didnt swing it with the bank.
So time went by and I bought oh about 300ish cars (seriously!) including a 59 pop, (first car) a 1976 Caddilac Sedan Deville, a 69 Merury Marquis (429 Police interceptor) a 76 Cordoba, Three Mustangs (67-76) Two Camaro's (76-78) Two Cougars (68-71) Two Fairlaines (61-63) Four Falcons (63-76) And a 76 Gran Torino, which I've got now, I went to the States to get that and I drove it from Colorado to Nebraska to Memphis to New Orleans and then on to LA to ship it back to NZ 5750 miles!!!
So I guess what I'm saying is I'm a pretty enthusiastic motorhead I run a wrecking yard in Auckland and I'm a freelance writer for a couple of Hot Rod Magazines, I fully blame a 71 Mustang Grande for starting it all.
I found the original Smooth Torquer this year, its been restored (again!)and the new owner doesnt want to sell.
Despite loving 71-73 Mustangs I've never owned my own one, because the time has somehow never been right, and they kind of mean a lot to me, I really want to do one justice and make a sort of tribute car to my mate Dave, he's nearly 60 now.
I'm 40 next March and I've decided that now is the time to buy the car I've always wanted, so I thought a really good start is to join your forum.
Thanks for letting me join, and feel free to ask me any thing you might want to know about UK or Ozzie Fords and I'll be glad to help, I'm pretty good with most car films too if you need anything answering, and I'll try not to bore the hell out of ya
All the Best
Ben "Charlie Safari" Wilson
Just a quick hello, I'm hoping to fill a 71-73 Mustang shaped hole in my life very shortly, it's a long story how I got involved with them but here goes.
I was a kid in Tredegar, South Wales
American cars were far and few between. One day as a little kid a Brown 71 Grande drove past me, and I thought, thats me, and I became car obsessed overnight. It was a 6 cyl in Brown then jacked up with some cool dude wearing a leather jacket at the wheel.
Some years later, my best mate (also car obsessed) told me about a few American cars parked in a shed at the other end of town, so we decided to ride down on our BMX the next weekend, true to his word there was Smooth Torquer The 71 Grande, now Green and in Full 70's show trim, jacked up on Craigers with a draylon Interior, sidepipes and now running a 390, a 76 Camaro and a 71 Charger being worked on in a garage by three guys. We said hello and asked if we could help, as long as we were careful we could.
So I got to know Dave Morris and spent all my teenage years down his garage on the weekends helping out, and learning just about everything about cars and car movies, and of course music, Dave collected records, and lent me them to tape, I can't even look at a 71 Notch without Communication breakdown playing in my head
Dave got the raw end of the deal, having to answer all my stupid questions like "if its got more than one exhaust, does it make it faster" "do cars go as fast as the speedo?" "Who's Jimi Hendrix, and why did he sing about an Electric Landlady" etc and he mostly had to feed me as well as his own kids. In exchange he got a poor gofer a reasonable tea maker, and a pretty good duster.
When he sold Smooth Torquer in 1989, I tried to raise the funds to buy it, but sadly everybody in my family thought (and still do) I was insane for loving old thirsty American cars. Oh and my weekend car washing job didnt swing it with the bank.
So time went by and I bought oh about 300ish cars (seriously!) including a 59 pop, (first car) a 1976 Caddilac Sedan Deville, a 69 Merury Marquis (429 Police interceptor) a 76 Cordoba, Three Mustangs (67-76) Two Camaro's (76-78) Two Cougars (68-71) Two Fairlaines (61-63) Four Falcons (63-76) And a 76 Gran Torino, which I've got now, I went to the States to get that and I drove it from Colorado to Nebraska to Memphis to New Orleans and then on to LA to ship it back to NZ 5750 miles!!!
So I guess what I'm saying is I'm a pretty enthusiastic motorhead I run a wrecking yard in Auckland and I'm a freelance writer for a couple of Hot Rod Magazines, I fully blame a 71 Mustang Grande for starting it all.
I found the original Smooth Torquer this year, its been restored (again!)and the new owner doesnt want to sell.
Despite loving 71-73 Mustangs I've never owned my own one, because the time has somehow never been right, and they kind of mean a lot to me, I really want to do one justice and make a sort of tribute car to my mate Dave, he's nearly 60 now.
I'm 40 next March and I've decided that now is the time to buy the car I've always wanted, so I thought a really good start is to join your forum.
Thanks for letting me join, and feel free to ask me any thing you might want to know about UK or Ozzie Fords and I'll be glad to help, I'm pretty good with most car films too if you need anything answering, and I'll try not to bore the hell out of ya
All the Best
Ben "Charlie Safari" Wilson