How you got your stang.

[Widowmaker00]

I thought a cool thread would be for us to tell the stories of how we got our mustangs.

I worked for my dad doing ceramic tile since I was a little kid and saved all the money I ever made.

It started when I was 13 yrs old. I bought a 1957 chevy stepside pickup with big plans (prostreet, blown bigblock) for $125. The truck was in rough, rough shape and me being young was unaware of the $$$ it was gonna take just to get the truck on the road. When I was 15 my dad asked me since the truck wasnt going to be done in time for me to drive it to school what kind of car I wanted to get, so I decided a mustang, any mustang, would be a good choice. After searching in car traders for a few months I found my car, 1972 Mach 1, rebuilt 351C, rebuilt trans, $3000. I went to go look at it and realized I had seen it before, we drove buy it on our way to a underconstruction housing development probably 100 times, and it was always sitting in the corner of this guys yard, with the engine out of it. Apparently this guy and his brother started to restore it, and just ran out of money. The car was gutted, only what was needed to drive was there. No interior, no grill or bumpers. Well to my surprise the guy had already bought a slew of new parts and just hadn't installed them, including a new grill (a standard one) a new headliner, and boxes and boxes of other stuff. The car ran like it was brand new, and was rust free. Perfect.

It still took a couple years for me to put it together, but I had it for my entire junior and senior years in high school, it was my only car and daily driver for 6 years. I have to thank my dad for giving me a job and teaching me to save money, because of that, I always had the most badass car at school.

Oh I had to sell that old truck because we moved and didnt have enough room for it anymore, but as soon as I am stationed in the states again I plan on seeking it out and buying it back.

 

[Nance]

My first mustang that I had was a 71 sportsroof 351c. Used.My father helped me buy when I was 17. I drove it till I was27-29 married and times got hard for me and my wife so I had to sell it.Well about 25 years latter I was looking at 71-73 mustangs in a magazine And told my wife I sure missed my old 71 mustang.She said go fine one so here I am latter in life with my 71 Mach 1.

 

[73vertproject]

Great story and great idea for a thread, Widowmaker! As soon as I get some things out of the way, I'll post up mine, although it's pretty lame compared to yours.

Doc

 

[RocketFoot]

Our Mustang Coupe was originally owned by my Grand Parents. Bought new in 1972 and driven for a while by them as well as my Dad and Aunt. When my Grand Father died, the car sat until around 1984 when my Dad brought it home and put it in his garage for storage. My Dad and I just decided to dig it out and start a resto around March 2010. We got the Mach 1 more or less as a play toy to help with the frustration of slow restoration, but it also ended up being a bit of a distraction to getting the 71 Coupe done! LOL!

 

[Widowmaker00]

Here is that '57 chevy that I bought, I seriously thought I could get this thing done in 3 years on a $5/hour budget lol. And yes that is a tree growing through the bed.

 

[Hemikiller]

My first Mustang was a '73 Grande' that I bought in '89 while in college. I found it in the local classifieds, the Bargain News. It was about 30 miles away, but was dirt cheap at $125. My Chemistry teaching assistant took me down to see it and I ended up getting it for $75, plus a $35 battery from K-Mart. $5 in gas and I was on my way home. I drove that car for two years, rebuilt the engine, transmission and suspension. I got rear-ended on the highway and bought a 71 sportsroof with the insurance $$.

My current 71 Mach was sitting at a local auto body parts store, Auto Body Specialties. They would take cars in on consignment and this one was there for at least a year. I bought it and a parts 71 Grande in Sept 2001 for $1100. I had to drag it onto my trailer and tow it back to my shop. I bought it mainly for the fact it was a very original almost untouched car with minimal rust (for CT), and I like the color. I still had to do both floors, cowl and trunk floor, but the quarters are still original.

 

[Mister 4x4]

When I was 14, my Mom changed careers and was attending classes at Salt Lake Community College. One of her classmates (and good friend) had a Grabber Yellow '71 Mach 1... and of course me being 14, it was the coolest car in the world. Then he let me drive it once... Game Over - I will have one of my own someday.

Fast Forward to this past July, when my Jeep is almost done and my pal just scored a 1963 1/2 Galaxie 500 XL via Craigslist (Dallas). Well... now I'm jonesin' for a project car of my own and started poking around. On San Angelo's Craigslist, I found mine listed @ $2500. Then a few weeks later, dropped to $2250. Then I found his ebay sale saying he'd take $2000. I went to visit and talked him down to $1600 (the engine's seized and the car is really in horrible shape after all).

A few days later, I found a nice '71 in Dallas for $3500 that actually looked great and ran fine... which I should've gotten instead. But I'm committed to getting this one back together, so I just have to keep at it. I'll be able to honestly say that this is 'my' car when it's all said and done.

It's been an eye-opener since I started tearing into it. But, I'm still optimistic in seeing replacement parts are not as expensive as I was expecting - although a little disappointing that the '71-'73s don't have as much reproduction support as the pre-'70 models. It's also just finding the time to work on it - I'm down to about 1 day a week, providing something else doesn't come up.

 

[VegasFastback]

My mustang was orginally bought from Friendly Ford in 1972 by a woman that worked at Nellis Air Force base. She drove it till she died.

It sat in the base parking lot for a couple weeks till Kelly Beardoll noticed it and tracked down the woman's sister and bought it. He completley rebuilt the motor but not much else. He drove it for a decade and parked it indefinaly around 2000.

I came across the car because my buddy lived across the street from him and I spent alot of time over there in high school. After staring at it for all 4 years of high school and intentionally driving past it on the way to my parents house for another 5 years, my soon to be wife at the time and I noticed a for sale sign on the house prompting me to ask for it. I actually found his son first, who seem relieved that it might get sold, and he gave me Kelly's number. I talked to him for about a week up untill my wedding day and bought the car the day after we got back.

Since then I've slowely repaired the the engine and am now replacing the leaf springs. All it needs now is tires, paint and interior.

 

[TommyK]

My dad had a 69 Cougar conv he bought new that got smashed in Dec of 1972. He replaced it with a 73 Cougar conv. I still remember riding home from the dealership in the back of that car. I was 10.

My older brother and I drove that car in high school. It was in several homecoming parades in Trumbull CT back in the day. My brother sold it in 1980 (?) for $2200.00.

Fast forward to 5 1/2 years ago and I was looking for a 73 Cougar conv for nostalgic reasons but couldn't find one that wasn't a rust bucket. Ended up buying a 73 Mustang conv from CA.

 

[71fastback]

A couple of my buddies in high school were really into Mustangs (in particular, 67 fastbacks). That got me started on Mustangs and when I was 15 (1983) I found a nice 67 fastback with no rust and brand new interior. The paint was pretty nice too but was a little oxidized. I bought it for $3200. I drove it everyday until I was about 21 and then sold it because my girlfriend at the time had a brand new car and there was no place to park my Mustang at the apartment complex.

Fast forward to more than a few years ago. I was looking at Mustangs on craigslist Denver every single day looking at vintage mustangs that were either way out of my price range or simply rust buckets. I never was a big fan of the 71-73 Mustangs when I was younger but more and more I was starting to really like the way they looked. One day, I was on craigslist, and spotted a 71 fastback for sale. I jumped on it. It was probably only on craigslist for about an hour when I called the owner. I drove over to his place and gave it the once over. I saw that it was only a base model 302. It needed floor pans, cowl, quarters and a new interior but the 302 was partly built already with an Edelbrock manifold and carb. It had hooker headers and a custom dual exhaust. It ran really good. So I bought it and have been working on it ever since. New aluminum heads and a Comp Cam went in and I did the interior in a short amount of time. Now I'm just saving up for the body work and paint.

 

[Tnfastbk]

So looks like everyone is going back to the beginning so here goes : I traded a 1969 model motorcycle(which I would love to have today) for my first one when I was fifteen. A 1973 Mach 1 in looking back now in not so great shape but to me it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Before I ever got to drive it myself some(insert your own explicative here) hit my dad and myself and totaled it. Used the insurance money to buy a 1973 Grande', which I drove all the way till my senior year in high school. Traded it off. Then a few months later bought a 1978 Cobra II. Kept that a few months, got married and joined the military. Around 1993 my dad and I traded a cougar he had for a 1973 fastback for me to build. Would turn out to be our last one together. In 1995 bought a new one for a daily driver. Got a divorce in 1996 and lost the 73 in the war and ended up selling the 95. So fast forward to the current one, Had been looking around for another to build and had not found anything I could afford that was not just total junk. A friend had told me about this car several times and in my mind it was just another out of my price range. So we had been to Kentucky looking at a 63 Fairlane and on the way back he brought it up again, I finally said just call the guy, he did we went over there on our way back from Kentucky and looked it over. Looked at the serial number and found out it was a original 1971 Mach1 4 speed M code car and solid. Before I could say anything my buddy threw out a price much lower than the asking price. The guy said if you will pay me right now he would take it. So after a trip to the bank and paying the man, here we are two years and many more dollars later and still in the rebuild process. But it is MINE.

 

[c9zx]

The 1972 Mach 1, that I'm trying to finish, was spotted 5 years ago by a friend who travels the state for a power company. He got an address and after a lot of old time negotiation, I bought it. It has been on and off project since then. The first mustang I owned I really, really wish I had back. I bought it in 1972 for $2000, a grabber blue 1970 BOSS 302. Uncle Sam decided I was leaving the country for an extended period of time, I had no place to store it, so I sold it to a car lot owner for $1600 and walked home. Several other in between, truly addicted I suppose.

Chuck

 

[bkelley]

My dad bought it back when he was 16 in '78 for $2200. He gave the car to me a few years ago and we started the restoration process a few weeks ago.

 

[72HCODE]

20 years ago I came across a very sad blue car with 4 flat tires rusting on the side of a road where it was parked for at least 8 years before that. I fell in love. My buddy that was with me at the time commented it was the ugliest car he had ever seen. I had to have one. I did not save that car.

5 years ago I purchased my car from Florida sight unseen. I was full of my own hubris and was hot to trot on an internet deal that looked good. the seller lied perfectly and I bought the car. Very quickly I was over my head, that is what classic car restoration is all about. I had a wasp nest in my dome light.

I now have 5 years of my first ford owner ship under my belt. It has been rocky road of love. For the moment I've decided not to take the exit ramp.

 

[cobra3073]

It actually "started" for me in 1968. I had just returned from my first tour in Vietnam and was stationed at Stewart AFB in upper state NY. My best friend on the base had a '63 Galaxy 500 with a 390 and toploader. That car was a BEAST and usually won the street races that were in vogue at the time.

Anyway, the '69 were come out and he traded it in for a red '69 Torino with a 428CJ. I had to have one but due to my limited driving experience at the time, my friend convince me to get a yellow '69 Torino with a 302. Four months later, I had "orders" to go back to Asia. I drove the Torino to Memphis where I turned it over to a younger brother.

Fast forward to 1972 where I am now in the Philippines. With the "War" winding down, I started thinking that I might survive for a while so I went to the Base Exchange where a number of automotive representatives were taking orders for new cars. Most of these orders were for cars to be delivered to Service people upon their return to the U.S. My situation was a bit different in that I was not going back to the U.S. but based on my rank and status, I had the option of having a car built and shipped to me in the Philippines. I penciled in an option list for the "baddest" car Ford had that year - - a '73 Mach I with 351CJ (Export Version) with C6. I could only get the 3:25 gear with Traction Loc but I knew I would be changing that very quickly.

I received "The COBRA" in April 1973 and have had it ever since! It has less than 30,000 miles on it (albeit many of those have been a quarter at a time) and now has a '70 428CJ motor with toploader and 4:57 gears, I am in the process of building a 545 to replace the 428.

I also have a '73 Grande which I acquired about 8 years ago. It is currently at the painters and has a 472, C6, 3:50 gears and is just about ready for "prime" time. I did the Grande primarily as a "learning experience" for what was to happen with "The COBRA."

BT

 

[GreenGold73]

My '73 coupe has been in the family sine he was born. Yes, it's a boy...he's very temperamental about that. Anyway, my mom bought it new in North Platte, NE in May of 1973. There were 2 mustangs left on the lot and there would not be anymore coming in before the "next generation" or abomination was due to be released. She had her choice of the greengold or a horrific blue. I still remember, plain as day exactly where they sat on the lot next to each other looking so damn cool. I also remember begging her not to pick the blue one, gawd, anything but that awful blue. Of course it had an all black interior so grandpa was able to convince her that it would get too hot sitting in the sun all day. Thank god she listed to reason. In fact, I never did see that car driven around town and was heard that it was sent to another dealer because they couldn't sell it.

When I was 15, she sold me the car and he was my h.s. car and first couple of years of college. When the mileage hit 100,000 I knew that I didn't want to drive it into the ground so left it at home for my grandparents to drive. They did until 1995 or 96 and it has sat in their driveway, covered, since. This fall I was hoping to get it to Lincoln, where I finally have a garage and time and some money to work on it but it didn't work out so I'm waiting till spring as I don't really want to deal with it in the cold weather. Oh well, more time to plan, dream, study and get my nerve up to the task of working on it.

One other thing...the blue. I LOVE the Grabber Blue and have pointed it out to my mother who just gave me a dirty look and said "yours could have been that color but you didn't want it, remember?" Oh how well I remember, and had to inform her that the awful blue WAS NOT Grabber Blue but a color called Medium Turquoise, it's slightly lighter and greener than GB and well if you've ever seen it you've probably thought WTF were they thinking with that color? Can you tell I'm still not a fan, 37 years later?

 

[72fastback]

Well my love for the 71 to 73 mustangs started when I was a teenager around 13,14.My brother had a fox body Capri but he bought a lot of mags and books on mustangs.I would look through the books and always love the mustangs.I don't know if being born in 1971 had a sentimental meaning to me but those years always stood out.I actually only got my drivers license at the age of 25.I was living in downtown Montreal and the bus,subway and my bicycle seemed enough at the time.I was also to busy partying to get enough money to buy a car hahahaha.So my first car was an 83 or 84 civic with a honda matic transmission. it would get 130kmh going downhill hahaha.Fast forward to last year.My buddy at work had always been into cars and he remembered that 8 years before {he had left the company and came back} I was telling him that one day I would love to have a 71 mustang.A few weeks later the other guy I work with comes back from getting some steel at the local mill and tells me there is a mustang for sale 2 min away from the shop.So after work all three of us head down to see the car.There it was.A red 1972 mustang fastback with the ram air hood.I fell in love instantly.{you guy's all know what this usually means}. We check out the car it seemed solid all over.We decide to open the hood even though there is no one home {it was parked on the front lawn}.there we saw a clean looking 351c 4v. I was hooked.

Went home called the owner talked to the wife/girlfriend,and a week later I had the keys in hand and my dream car in the driveway.

fairy tale for men hahaha

 

[droptop73]

Back in the late 80's I built a pro street '64 GTO. I had the car since '77 and played with it until the late 90's. My wife never did like the car, too loud, too hot, too many fumes. Like most pro street cars it ran like a cat with it's tail on fire but did not steer, stop or handle very well. It got old. I sold it in '98. What to do next? I had always been a Pontiac guy and wanted a '68, '69 LeMans convertible, the wife said thats an awful big car. She always liked Mustangs and I wanted a convertible. We agreed we liked the '67 - 70 body styles the most. With the money we had most of the cars were junk and the older Mustangs drove like OLD cars. We found the Droptop in an auto trader magazine across the state in a suburb of Detroit. The owner agreed to meet us half way with the car. The moment we drove it we loved it. It drove and handled so nice! We were sold. Less than a year after we bought it someone made a blind left hand turn in front of me and tore the nose off my nice little driver. I got angry and tore the car down to a shell. No collision insurance was a drag. It sat for about 7 years before a friend of mine challenged me to get it back on the road. It has been driven and upgraded little by little over the last several years. It is definitely a BUDGET project. Future plans are for a 5-speed conversion, a fresh short block, and eventually fresh paint, new top and sound deadening. It is a factory A/C car so repairing that is on the list as well. As with any project it will probably never be finished.

 

[Maiden Dearborn]

I got the bug back in high school in '76. Two of my friends had Mach 1s. One was white that he took me for a ride on the high school track at night with a bunch of other buddies. The track survived. The other one was medium bright yellow and we'd take to out to lunch every now and then. Since then, I had always wanted one. Wanted???... I was obsessed.

But alas, off to college, still dreaming of owning one. I dropped out after the first year (drinking age was 18 back then) and started to look for a job. And then.....there she was...sitting in the parking lot of an office building. For Sale $2,000.00. My Mach 1. With no job, no income, no education, I went to my dad for a co-signer on a loan. Twice he said no. Third time was a charm.

Shortly after, I found a job and started really making money. But then with gas at $0.54/gal I didn't see a need for speed limits. That first year, the men in blue were able to pick me out of the speeding crowd 7 times. The last one was for going way to fast in a 25. Talk about taking lead out of my foot through my wallet.

The car basically stayed in storage since 1979 until now when I have the time to restore it. I've had others since then. A 65 red vert, a red 73, a white 84 with t-tops, a white 85, a white 94 vert, a red 95 vert. Then I got married. All the 'stangs were sold, except my first love.

The best day of me in my car was when I got out of the theatre early that was showing the original "Gone" and waited in the parking lot with my Mach. As soon as the people came out, I started her up and peeled out down the street. You could here a little boy in the crowd say, "there's the car". That was a great day.