Above: Ultra-rare 1957 Ford Thunderbird “E” Code Factory Supercharged
Above: Factory original “Indy 500 Official Pace Car” Special Package offered by dealers in 1964. 1 of 2 Concours Gold pace car mustangs.
Above: 4 Original Big Block Shelby GT500’s, two being GT500KR’s.
Yesterday, April 17th was the birthday of the Ford Mustang. As it goes, I was too busy with everything (including working on one) to mention the Pony car’s birthday. Yesterday 49 years ago, it was displayed at the World Fair, and little did Ford know it would be arguably the iconic car from Ford. At the time it was a gamble for Ford engineers and designers, not knowing if a sporty small car could sell in a world full of used ’50’s land yachts and similar early ’60’s technology. It was an undeniable breakthrough, and it was soon clear they had struck gold. Three body styles gave the Mustang versatility, 4 seats made it a family car, and a strong V8 gave it a power to weight ratio that could compete with any labeled “sports” car of the time. The rest is history, and the amount of “good times” and memories facilitated by this iconic car are infinite. Below is a link to a forum thread currently running on Vintage Mustang Forums about how you got your classic mustang. The stories are hilarious, and some incredibly lucky, all are worth reading. Also included below is an original Ford advertisement for the Mustang, I just love how the announcer says “Mustang!”. Enjoy!
“What’s your Mustang story?” Thread
Feature Image source: forum.stangtv.com
One thing I love about European classics is the rarely seen “club badges” or “grille badges”. They always display a sense of pride and value in well built cars. It was the hand shaped fenders, hand stitched leather, and hand plated trim surrounding such cars that induced pride and joy in the sight of the finished product. The badges were added street respect, seeing one or two on the front of a car means the owner knew their car, and were deeply entrenched in the culture surrounding that genre of automobiles. Check out this 912 sporting some PCA Â pride on it’s back.
Everyone loved the latest GT500E from the 2000 movie Gone in Sixty Seconds. The reaction was similar to the early 1970’s movie Gone in 60 Seconds. If you haven’t seen either movie, the main plot is a huge car heist in a narrow time period.  Watching the movies always makes me think if such a large theft could actually be possible, and apparently I am not the only one who thought about such an event as the police departments all over the country reported a significantly larger number of car thefts in the years following the movie. The main star of both movies is a trouble-causing Mustang fastback named Eleanor. In the early film Eleanor embodies a mustard yellow ’73 Mustang Fastback which tears through police blockades like a tank. The later movie features Eleanor as  a 1968 Mustang Fastback Custom designed by Chip Foose himself. The later Eleanor is definitely the meaner of the two- with signature side exhaust, nitrous, and custom body kit. I personally prefer the early ’73 because of the sweet ’70’s paint color, and the steady burning of tires that was included with almost every sharp turn. Here are some pictures of both cars, as a side by side comparison as well as an exhaust note video of the newest GT500E.  Enjoy!
.jpg)
Here lies a once-fresh VW 2 door fastback, a variation of the Bug and Squareback wagon. Yeah I’d say they got the fastback part right. The patina tells the rest of the story.
The best view of L.A.-
Shot Taken by Austin Loomis
Have you ever heard an exhaust note that you know could only belong to a a proper vintage sports car? And by “proper” I am referring to one of European decent. Such was the case with this sweet 1956 Austin Healey 100M replica. To start, the exhaust is much like that of a classic Alfa GTV, articulated as well as loud enough to contribute to the prime motoring experience of a British roadster.  The next thing I noticed when I looked up as it was driving by was the windshield- low and sleek. It was made for speed, laid back in true aerodynamic style.  This trend of lowered windshields and slippery cars spanned many decades and included everything from chopped ’32 roadsters to Mercury Lead-sleds. In 1956, Healey did very well in Le Mans, and they decided to make factory examples of the racecars that year. Upgraded engines, lowered windshields, and leather hood straps were just a few of the factory specialty parts in the package. The 100M is arguably Healey’s best looking car. I would have to agree, the louvered hood is a nice touch as well. The body lines are simple, but aerodynamic in the functionally basic meaning of the word. This car was put together back in the day when lightweight roadster bodies, peppy engines, and short wheel bases were the accepted equation for track-speed. In many ways they were correct in their design for the application, and many others followed their lead in the speed oriented design such as Carroll Shelby and his Cobra, and anyone who put a V8 in a deuce coupe.
Coming off the highs of the super street muscle car era of the late ’60’s where most every top model muscle car had more than one carb and more than 400 horsepower, GM was still producing great examples of the ‘good ol days’ of American engineering when things were simple, fast, and priced economically. The last of the classic body lines for GM is generally accepted as 1972, however cars just after that (’73,’74) didn’t completely drop the ball, they just took a step in the wrong direction. This 1972 Chevrolet El Camino may be one of the last classic body’s from Chevy, and man did they nail the looks. First of all, the El Camino is a versatile vehicle allowing one to transport large items with its bed, but it handles and is sized like a car. This gave it competitive acceleration and handling compared to all the other muscle cars of the day, and you could drive it to work every day too. This in my mind is the ultimate cruiser/daily bruiser. When I see it, it seems to be content with a run up the highway to the parts store, or a happily applied 300 foot streak of burnt rubber in your favorite quiet neighborhood. I always wanted one of these great automotive ideas of the 1960’s, thinking of myself saying “just throw it (item not needed in the cab) in the back and lets go”. When I first heard of this particular car, it belonged to a husband of a friend of my mom, who had recently sold it to a young classic car enthusiast. It sounded like a good home, which is clearly what this one-owner car needed. Next thing I know I am standing next to it at the local Cars and Coffee Irvine. I could not believe it, and sure enough it was the car. Michael, the cars new owner, drives it everyday, clearly treats it right, and did his share of research into the car. The color is a special order Green from a southern CA dealership, and the black vinyl top brings me back to drive in burger days. Almost everything is original, the bed is properly aged with nice patina, the interior still has the ultra-kush bench seats, and the chrome overall is in good shape. The engine had to be replaced, so a Corvette ZZ4 engine was put in, giving the Camino a slightly higher horsepower number. It’s classic cars like this that stand out to me, just thinking of all the concrete this car has covered, and what the streets around it must have looked like when the odometer number had just started to turn. Here’s some photos of the El Camino-
Spotting Classics 
