My Mustang Story

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Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
435
Reaction score
14
Location
Houston,Tx
My Car
1971 mustang Mach 1, 429CJ, J Code SOLD 3/2016

1971 Boss 351 Mustang
Medium Yellow Gold
From Kim Miller Collection
I told this story to Don and he encouraged me to tell my story to everyone. So here is my story of how I ended up here on the 71 73 Forum.

If you have not figured it out I am sort of seasoned. I graduated high school in May of 1972, May 19, 1972 to be exact. I remember the day well not just because I graduated but that was the day I took delivery of my 72 Mustang Mach 1. I went with my mother to the Ford dealership to place an order for my car a couple of months before. After many arguments with my Dad who wanted me to buy a Ford pickup. He finally relented and allowed me to trade the hand me down car I was driving, a 67 RS Camaro.

The Mach 1 just happened to come in of all days on the day I graduated making all 21 of my classmates think my parents "gave" me the car for graduation. They gave me the Camaro to trade. I paid $86.00 a month for three years for the new Mustang.

I ended up dating a beautiful girl in that Mach 1. She was two years behind me but we ended up getting married in 1973. We later moved from north Texas to Houston in 1975 where I got a job. We sold the Mach 1 in 1977 to a high school kid. I saw the car one more time about a year later and ended up stopping the kid to ask if he wanted to sell the car back. He said he would call me if he decided to sell but he never did. Never saw the car again.

So, I lost that original car but never lost that beautiful girl who went with me to Houston 300 miles away from our parents to start a new life together. When we had the gold Mach 1 my girlfriend had given me a little wooden rat that we hung from the windshield. I had completely forgotten about that until I got the 71 Mach 1 on December 24, 2013. Not long after unloading it off the trailer my wife brought me "Back of Rat", that little wooden rat that use to hang off the rearview mirror. We called him that because no matter how we tried to make him face us he would turn towards the hood to see where we were heading. That was Back of Rat. She handed the little rat and told me to put him in his place so I did. He still faces forward like he did 41 years ago!

My wife and I have been a team for 40 years of marriage. We had one daughter (two years after we got married in case you are wondering!) who followed me into my profession. (You will have to guess what that is)

My Mustang is more than a car for me. It is a time machine that takes me back in time. It is way more car than I could have ever bought back then which makes it even more special. My car with any luck will out live me. I am more than an owner of a classic Mustang. I am a caretaker who knows that one day someone else will get to enjoy it as much as I do.

What about you? Do you have a connection to your car that is very personnel? What is your story?

 
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Awesome story! I got my Mustang when I was 14, now I am 32. It was my stepdad's car, and when he married my mom he gave it to me as a treaty of peace (we didn't get along so well in the beginning). I am grateful that he gave the car to me, it was the car that I learned about mechanics on and learned the mistakes and do's and do not's of repair on it. Unfortunately, some of them came back to bite me recently, but fortunately there are way more parts available these days than back then. For some reason, as many times as I have tried to sale my Coupe, it is still with me. So now, I am restoring her so that my son, who is two now, can have a nice car in high school. Even though Vintage then will be edge body Mustangs!!! So, not as good a story as the first, but a story none the less.

 
I bought ours three weeks before we got married. I had spent some time looking for a cool car to drive us that day (meaning hiring somebody with their car to be the chauffeur).

So I happened to find our vert, bought it and we drove that car for our wedding, my brother in law acting as chauffeur while the wife and me sat on the back of the back seat.

Before we left for the ceremony we took delivery of many flowers and bouquets. On one of them there were two furry "things" for lack of a better term representing a bride and a groom. I put them on too of the dash and after 13 years they are still there.

Unfortunately I don't have a pic of them and the car is not here, so I can't show them to you.


Here's a pic I just took from our wedding photo album. I cropped it, so you can see the guys on the dash.

vusuteta.jpg



Here's another one from the wedding album. It shows the car in its former unrestored glory with the flowers and stuff waiting for us to come out.

sage2u4a.jpg


 
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Great story Mike!! And everyone else:)

My stang is very special too me too...Kinda like you, I lost the original car i fell for..I was just a kiddy in school getting ready to get my drivers license..When my dad picked up a beautifull metalic blue q code 73 mach 1...Told me it would be my first car, Some guy chased him around and would not stop bugging him about selling the car...My dad finaly told him some outragous price and told him the motor was puffing a little smoke on start up and mite need rebuilt , and the guy showed up with the cash!! My dad still did not want to sell it and told him no, this guy started crying over the car and my dad sold it too him for a crazy amount...I was so upset i would not talk to my dad for 2 weeks..lol."over a silly piece of metal i did not own" but it was promissed too me...I was just 15 getting ready to go to drivers ed...Which i did not even go i was so upset...Then come to find out "part that hurt the most" The guy we sold the car too took it over to a Ford dealership and traded it in on a new taurus!!! He got 800 bucks trade in on a car he paid over 6,000 for...Some people just need a boot to the head..hehe...Like you i never seen that car again :(

Now when i turning 18 my dad hooked up with this red and black mach 1 q code...He still remmeberd how much i loved this style of car and offered me a way to buy the car from him...He had some cash wrapped up in it so i was not going to get it for free..I started to really fall for the old girl and then one day a big wind storm happend and blew a big camper on top of the car!! dented the hood a bit and put a ding in the fender..He cashed out the insurance on it and sold me what was left for 1500 bucks:)

She was not the first car i fell for..Nor the color i wanted..But she was all mine and won me over...Took me a bit to get use to the new look and flashy red color...but once my eyes got use to the color i could see my cars charm...It gets more attention than the old blue one did...and people still bug me all the time to sell it..But its not going anywhere "unless something comes up serious" I plan on keeping this car...Been 22 years now.

 
Great story. You let your occupation out in another thread, so I'll just ask your your preferences..

Hinged or chain? Asp or PR-24? Glock or 1911?

:D
I did? Well you got me but only Kit knows specifically what I do! It's a great job which is why I am still workin!

As far as the preferences go, can I just pay the fine and go. I was never here!



Great story. You let your occupation out in another thread, so I'll just ask your your preferences..

Hinged or chain? Asp or PR-24? Glock or 1911?

:D
Oh yeah, after looking at your car I am glad that this car was not yours! Have you seen this before?

Sorry, the photo won't download. It was a car exactly like yours but wrapped around a pole. Same color and everything.

image.jpg

 
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Mike's story is a great one...and typical of how I think most of us feel about our cars personally. I know mine has a deeper, more emotional feeling to me than any non-car guy ( or gal!) could grasp. However I know everyone here gets it! Our cars are special to each of us.

I love "Old Boots" ( my car's official name) and while I know it is far (so very far...) from perfect, I would never consider parting with it for any forseeable reason.

Mike's Pewter 71 429 Mach is probably one of the nicest condition, most accurate and beautiful I've seen in 20+ years...compared to his car, mine is a worn out old bucket of bolts.

I've joked about trading cars with him, but the truth is I would never consider that...that car and I have shared and made too much "hooligan history" together!

I love that phrase!

I am sure most feel pretty much the same about thier own rides also.

Thats why I rarely look down with ridicule on any one elses ride, no matter what brand, model or how poor condition it may be in. It doesn't matter a whit what I or anyone else thinks of it...only matters what the owner thinks and feels about it.

I see today's kids with thier primered, lowered, chicken-wired, fart-can Hondas with the salami-slicer wing on the trunk, and if I just keep my mouth shut for a few seconds and squint back at them with time-machine glasses on...I can see myself 35 years ago with huge N50s in back, sidewalls all cut to hell because my air shocks keep getting a leak from burning through from the exhaust, skinny little tires in front...just stupid teenage modifications we all did because we didn't know any better.

I give the ricers a break. If thier into thier car and what to make it suit them, thats good enough for me.

Its better than the yuppies driving a new 370Z or a new Challenger R/T that don't even know where the hood release is.

 
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