First Favorite

I have been a Mustang fan for the entire 50+ year history, and have developed many favorite models over the years. Several models come out as my all-time favorites, a few of which I have owned myself, like my 03 Terminator Cobra, and my 07 Shelby GT 500 for instance. But, for this blog post, I want to talk about my "first favorite".
Sometime in the fall of 1967, my brother Ken and I were on the Ford dealer lot in Rapid City, South Dakota, looking at the new Mustangs. We were delighted to discover they had several new Shelby GTs setting there. One was a just arrived 1968 model and the rest were 67 models. As we looked them over, I came to realize that I preferred the 1967 GT 500 over the 68. I liked the cleaner, simpler style of the 67 front end, more than the 68 models. I also liked the hood scoop and taillights better on the 67s. When we opened the hoods, we discovered the twin 4-bbl carbs under the cool oval air cleaners on the 67 models were replaced by a single carb on the 68 model. For many reasons, the 67 Shelby GT 500 has remained one of my all time favorite Mustangs.
Others have remained at the top of my list as well, the 69 BOSS 429 in particular. I used to see a beautiful black one on the edge of a parking lot in Phoenix we often drove past in 1970. The 1969 BOSS 429 might be my all-time favorite Mustang, but the 1967 Shelby GT 500 will always be my "first favorite".
That may be why I have such a problem with "Eleanor" Mustangs. They are a custom Mustang movie prop introduced for the movie "Gone in Sixty Seconds"  in the year 2000. A whole younger generation of Mustang fans now think that "Eleanor" is what a 67 Shelby GT 500 really looked like. On the Eleanor movie car, they changed many of the best styling features of the real 67 GT 500, in particular, the entire front end styling.  Enough said on that matter.

My first favorite Mustang, a 1967 Shelby GT 500, in my favorite color combination. (internet photo)

Always About Muscle Cars

My automotive passion started at an early age, as a young teenager in the 1960's. What grabbed my attention first was performance cars. In the early 60's, performance was a big selling point for american car manufacturers. Every year they kept putting bigger and badder V8 engines in their performance models. At that time, their performance model was usually a full size two door hard-top, with V8 engine and four speed transmission. NASCAR stock car racing was also a big part of the growing popularity for American car manufacturers. About 1964, they finally got the idea to put those powerful motors in their mid-size cars. The muscle car was born. The Pontiac GTO was one of the first, being followed by the Chevelle SS 396, and the Ford Fairlane GT, and others were close behind. By the late 60's and early 1970's, the most powerful engines they made were available in these cars.
I was always attracted to the biggest engine in the lightest available car. The Shelby 427 Cobra was the ultimate dream, but way out of the range of possibilities for most people. The more attainable muscle cars were a more realistic goal for the average car guy like myself. My early experiences with V8 Mustangs would start me down the path that has lasted for more than 50 years.
In the late 1980's and early 90's, I did get my chance to own a couple big-block muscle cars. I restored a 1970 429 Cobra-Jet Ranchero, and also owned a 1970 Torino Cobra. The top shelf Mustangs were putting out equal performance by then, so I went that route from then on. From big-block monsters to supercharged Mustangs, it's always been about muscle cars for me.
For more of my story, check out my book at; Grab Some Gears

My restored 1970 Cobra-Jet Ranchero GT. (photo from 1987)

Photos in a Box

When we get old, will our lives be reduced to just photos in a box? For people of my parents generation, sometimes that's about all we have left once their gone. When we look through those old photos, it will trigger some fond memories of time spent with departed loved ones, and that's why we keep them, usually tucked away in a closet somewhere.  These days, maybe its not boxes filled with old photos of our lives, but rather thousands of images stored on our computer. But the future result will be much the same.
For those of us who post photos on Facebook, tweet them out to our followers on Twitter, or post them to a blog, we are putting them out to a much wider audience than just our family. If those photos are a reflection of the passions that are important to us, and we are sharing them with like minded people, we get some satisfaction from the positive comments we receive.
For us car enthusiasts, we feel a real connection to some of these people, most of whom we will never meet, and many from the other side of the world. We know they share some of the same interests, and have had many of the same experiences as ourselves, and we consider many of them our friends.
For me, that's why I share these personal images of my life. It makes them more than just photos in a box.

My 2015 Mustang GT , in the beautiful red rock country, near my home in Southern Utah.

The Last Street Race

Yes, street racing still goes on, but for me it ended 10 years ago. My last street race was with my friend Mike, a Viper owner, and me driving the 2003 Mustang "Terminator" Cobra I owned at the time. This race is detailed in the last chapter of my book. (This is something I haven't done on this blog before), here are a couple paragraphs from Chapter 15 of my book;

"We cruised down the highway, often trading positions, so we could observe each others cars from all angles. As we were reaching the outskirts of town, the traffic thinned out, just as expected. It still took some more waiting and maneuvering before we would have the needed space to run the cars.

Finally, things opened up a little more, Mike moved the Viper into position along side my Cobra, and we started slowing and confirming our intentions with signals and nods. We slowed to about 60 MPH, down shifted to third, bringing the engine RPM to mid-range where the most power would be instantly available.  We confirmed our status to each other with three fingers raised and a nod.  A few more seconds passed as we insured our pace was matched, then, in an instant we both floored the gas and we were off. I felt my Cobra lunge forward as the superchargers mechanical howl tried to drown out the roar of the exhaust, and the tires strain as car is thrust down the road. Instantly, I’m moving ahead of the Viper, and by the time I make the fourth gear shift, a few seconds later, we had just blasted past 100 MPH, and I catch sight of the Viper in my mirror, a couple car lengths back.  We let off, braked to cut some speed, and fell back in line as we were quickly approaching the traffic ahead. We took the next exit and pulled over, both grinning from ear to ear, and discuss the results of our little race. We both agreed that the outcome confirmed the Cobra had to be putting out 100 more horsepower than the Viper. We pulled back out onto a secondary highway and tried an encore, this time from a slower speed, at mid-range in second gear. The results were the same, further confirming our estimate of the Cobras 510 horsepower".
Check out my book or read sample pages at; Grab Some Gears 

Mike's Dodge Viper and my Mustang Cobra. (Picture from the photo shoot for my book cover, taken in 2006)

Ones That Got Away

Most car and motorcycle enthusiasts have a few vehicles in our past that we wish we still had. Some people attach more "sentimental value" to these past loves that others, but we all have these attachments to some degree.
Recently a story was relayed to me about Fred, a brother-in-law to my brother-in-law, about a 55 Chevy he owned years ago when he was first married. It was sold when the family started to grow and money was tight. He has missed that car ever since. He is now retired, has more time on his hands, and his family recently surprised him with a 55 Chevy like the one he used to have. Its a fixer-upper in need of complete restoration, but he is very happy and the work has begun to make it the car of his memories.

I have never been one to hold on to vehicles for sentimental reasons, there is always something new in my sights that I'd rather have instead. I have been lucky to have owned so many over the years, but I do admit there have been some that I wish I still had. It would take way more money, and storage space, than I have, but I do have a few sentimental favorites. The ATV pictured below is examples of one that got away.

The Honda 200X that I bought new in 1985 and owned for many years. My brother and nephew owned it after that, and I bought it back several years ago. It was in "like new" condition when I sold it to a collector in 2012. This is one I really miss.

Time on Two Wheels

Most car enthusiasts also love motorcycles, many as riders themselves, and some as admirers from afar. I myself have a long history with motorcycles, starting when I was very young. Growing up in the rural farm country of southwestern South Dakota, my brother and I would play on a 1940 Indian 4 cylinder monster that my dad road in his younger days, and still stored in a shed on our farm. As a young teenager, our family owned a small motorcycle shop in town, selling Honda models up to 160cc. I did minor mechanic work, and finished assembly of the new motorcycles, after they arrived in crates. My brother and I, and our cousins, all had cycles during our high school years. We thought that was pretty cool, the girls always wanted a ride, and we didn't want to disappoint.
One of my first street races with a stranger was on a motorcycle, and I won.  The whole thing is detailed in Chapter 1 of my book. That kind of stuff would continue, off and on until I was over 40 years old. For all those years I usually had a motorcycle of one type or another, from dirt bikes to street bikes. In recent years, I have enjoyed several ATVs, though I haven't owned a regular motorcycle in over 20 years. But I will always have fond memories of my time on two wheels.

Vintage photo of me on my Honda 160 Scrambler, taken in 1967.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder", or OCD as it is commonly referred to, is a condition that many people have. It can be mild or severe, anything from an annoyance for those you live with, to a debilitating mental condition that rules your life. Psychologists call it a disorder, and my wife will tell you I have it, but it has served me well for many years.
People with OCD like things neat and organized. A place for everything, and everything in it's place. We also like things to be neat and clean, that goes for our house, our clothes, and for us "car guys" it is especially true for our cars and our garage. Readers of my book, or this blog, will recognize this trait from many of my stories. One of my first jobs as a teenager was doing light mechanic work and detailing cars for a used car lot. That job suited me well, and the experience taught me many skills I use to this day.
Anyone who may be interested can check out my book and read sample pages at: Grab Some Gears

Keeping my Shelby clean, a photo from 9 years ago.

Most Popular Picture

For several years now, I have been on Facebook and Twitter, in addition to posting on this blog. Most of these social media platforms track the responses to your contributions in one way or another. It's interesting to me to see which of the posts I make attract the most attention from the followers who see my pictures and read my comments. Often, it's not the ones I would expect, but sometimes it's the ones that I also found the most interesting.
The statistics on Twitter are some that I pay closest attention to, because most of those who see my twitter posts are like minded car enthusiasts, and many like the same kind of stuff as I do. Of all the photos I've posted, or re-tweeted, in recent weeks, one stands out above all the rest as having been the most popular. It's the photo I've included below, of a beautiful red "67" Mustang GT. I'm not sure if it's the angle of the shot, the brightness of the colors, the subject matter itself, or a combination of all these things, but it just makes a very attractive photo. Others must agree.

A great shot of a beautiful 1967 Mustang GT. (photo from Twitter posts).