10-28-2011, 01:36 AM
Hello all,
I tell you, honestly, I have been in love with Mustangs as long as I can remember. I really don't know why since my dad wasn't a car nut. He was very point A to point B about his cars. I am the youngest of 8 kids and I can remember vividly being put in the very back (Illegal today, but I loved it) of the station wagon and counting the mustangs I would see going the opposite way on the NY State Thruway on our way to my grandmothers. I would give my parents the tally at the end of the trip. It usually included Porsche 911's and convertible Mercedes too. As I grew I became more of a realist and realized that Porsche's and Mercedes were out of my league financially so interest in them dropped. I also never forget the first time I got to go in a 65 Stang. My older brother had a friend who had one and I was tagging along for something and jumped in the back. I remember thinking it was the coolest thing that I had my own window crank for the little triangular window. As we pulled away blaring Boston's first album, me with my window crank the deal was sealed forever. Driving and owning a Mustang was always on my mind growing up and one of my big fears living in the Northeast and seeing my share of Mustangs rust away was that they would all be gone by the time I could drive. Well, that didn't happen and I did get my first Mustang, a White 66 coupe 200 3spd, before I even had a license. It was a nice looking car. It needed help in all the usual places and needed a ring job on the engine, but I didn't care, it was mine for $1,100. I still have the steering wheel center for that car and used it on all of the 66's that I've owned. I can't count the number of times I took that car for a spin with no license, registration or insurance when the parents were gone. When I finally became legal, what a day, I probably left a vapor trail from my mom's car to my Mustang as the words "Be safe!" came from her mouth. After driving it for some time the engine issues bugged me. So instead of rebuilding the motor, I found a guy who was selling two, yes two, Mustangs. A gold 66 6cyl Auto (I forgot to put this one on my list, so I guess I have you by two Jeff, although I never put it on the road) and a black 65, 289, auto(Or so I thought). I got them both for $500. I didn't even discuss it with my parents first, so at the age of 17 I had 3 cars. I must have gave them both heartburn. The gold car had the best running 6 cly I've ever seen so I pulled it and put in my white 66. Another great moment turning that key and having it start, I felt like I could do anything after that. The black car was my long term goal since I wanted that V8. Well after taking it out, again illegally, it died on me after doing a series of donuts with my friend. The car had electrical issues and was running off of the battery so I knew that the problem was it ran out of juice. My bigger problem was my parents finding out I'm driving this car with a passenger. I walked, or ran, to a local general store and called (Remember there was a time when there were no cell phones) my sister back home and told her she needed to take my battery out of my other car and bring it to me. After giving me the third degree she was cool and did it and I got my ass back home. My neighbor's at that time where a mustang family and he came over to help fix the wiring. In doing this, he told me that I didn't have an alternator but a generator and then proceeded to tell me that what I had here was a 64 1/2 with a 260 in it. I thought I had won the lottery. Well, I didn't since that car had a lot more issues than I was willing to acknowledge or could fix. But I drove it for my last couple of years in high school.
Well, I've gone on long enough and will have to write chapter two: The California Years another time. Hope you found this entertaining.
Jim
I tell you, honestly, I have been in love with Mustangs as long as I can remember. I really don't know why since my dad wasn't a car nut. He was very point A to point B about his cars. I am the youngest of 8 kids and I can remember vividly being put in the very back (Illegal today, but I loved it) of the station wagon and counting the mustangs I would see going the opposite way on the NY State Thruway on our way to my grandmothers. I would give my parents the tally at the end of the trip. It usually included Porsche 911's and convertible Mercedes too. As I grew I became more of a realist and realized that Porsche's and Mercedes were out of my league financially so interest in them dropped. I also never forget the first time I got to go in a 65 Stang. My older brother had a friend who had one and I was tagging along for something and jumped in the back. I remember thinking it was the coolest thing that I had my own window crank for the little triangular window. As we pulled away blaring Boston's first album, me with my window crank the deal was sealed forever. Driving and owning a Mustang was always on my mind growing up and one of my big fears living in the Northeast and seeing my share of Mustangs rust away was that they would all be gone by the time I could drive. Well, that didn't happen and I did get my first Mustang, a White 66 coupe 200 3spd, before I even had a license. It was a nice looking car. It needed help in all the usual places and needed a ring job on the engine, but I didn't care, it was mine for $1,100. I still have the steering wheel center for that car and used it on all of the 66's that I've owned. I can't count the number of times I took that car for a spin with no license, registration or insurance when the parents were gone. When I finally became legal, what a day, I probably left a vapor trail from my mom's car to my Mustang as the words "Be safe!" came from her mouth. After driving it for some time the engine issues bugged me. So instead of rebuilding the motor, I found a guy who was selling two, yes two, Mustangs. A gold 66 6cyl Auto (I forgot to put this one on my list, so I guess I have you by two Jeff, although I never put it on the road) and a black 65, 289, auto(Or so I thought). I got them both for $500. I didn't even discuss it with my parents first, so at the age of 17 I had 3 cars. I must have gave them both heartburn. The gold car had the best running 6 cly I've ever seen so I pulled it and put in my white 66. Another great moment turning that key and having it start, I felt like I could do anything after that. The black car was my long term goal since I wanted that V8. Well after taking it out, again illegally, it died on me after doing a series of donuts with my friend. The car had electrical issues and was running off of the battery so I knew that the problem was it ran out of juice. My bigger problem was my parents finding out I'm driving this car with a passenger. I walked, or ran, to a local general store and called (Remember there was a time when there were no cell phones) my sister back home and told her she needed to take my battery out of my other car and bring it to me. After giving me the third degree she was cool and did it and I got my ass back home. My neighbor's at that time where a mustang family and he came over to help fix the wiring. In doing this, he told me that I didn't have an alternator but a generator and then proceeded to tell me that what I had here was a 64 1/2 with a 260 in it. I thought I had won the lottery. Well, I didn't since that car had a lot more issues than I was willing to acknowledge or could fix. But I drove it for my last couple of years in high school.
Well, I've gone on long enough and will have to write chapter two: The California Years another time. Hope you found this entertaining.
Jim
![[-]](https://mach1club.com/images/collapse.png "[-]")
