The Mustang's History
June 3rd, 1968
Ford's Metuchen Plant
The Mustang was built on Monday June 3, 1968 in Ford's Metuchen Plant. According to my Marti Report the car was scheduled to be built on June 4th but was built a day earlier.
This is a base model Mustang with c-code V8 289 cubic inch engine with 2 barrel carburetor with 195 horsepower with a 3-speed automatic with maroon (dark red) interior.
Tower Ford
June 29, 1968
According to my Marti Report the car was sold from Tower Ford located at 3700 E Monument Baltimore Md 21205 on June 29, 1968. Tower Ford was in the Washington District Sales Office (DSO).
The original owners bought the car while they were living in Maryland. Sometime during the 1970’s they decided to move to Valley Stream, NY and remained there until I noticed the car when I was a child.
Here is an actual postcard/ promotion mail from Tower Ford.
Fender Bender
Sometime in the early 80's
The original owners lived 3 blocks away from me. I was a kid and I remember riding my bike past the car and stopping to admire it.
At the time first generation Mustangs were still being used as everyday cars but mostly has second-hand cars (parents passing down their cars). Basically, it was an older car on the road.
The original owners got into an accident with it and the passenger side fender was damaged and the car needed a new one. It was an older car at the time and fixing it seemed like less of a priority for them and they put it in the driveway and covered it with a blue tarp with the intentions of fixing it one day.
That didn’t happen. The family began piling things on the car like hockey goals, hockey sticks, and even had a kiddie pool lying against it. The car became a clutter of junk in their driveway..
This is not a photo of the actual accident.
The 1980s-1994
New Owners. New Hood
Sometime in the early 1980’s the original owners sold the car to their neighbors across the street. The second owners repaired the damage to the passenger fender and made some aesthetic changes.
Changes included:
• Changed the solid hood to a double-vented hood.
• Put a chrome dress-up kit on the engine.
• Changed the interior vinyl from maroon to black.
• Put Cragar rims on the car.
• Moved the radio antenna to the rear passenger side
• Put a modern radio in.
I restored the car to factory conditions but I left the double-vented hood. It’s the way my father knew the car and he always admired the it, and it just had a cool factor to it so I left it.
June 1994
The Mustang Acquisition
The father of the 2nd owner’s family eventually became ill. As his health deteriorated, he wrote a note and attached it to his will requesting his family sell the car to me when they were ready. "Please sell the car to Jeff. He wants the car more than you do.” The family was nice enough to honored the price the father and I agreed on.
I was young and I didn't have much money so my father helped me get a loan to buy the Mustang and in June of 1994 I bought the car and she has been mine ever since!
The Mustang was my daily driver in college and I continued to drive it until the year 2000. The Mustang was 33 years old at the time and like to remind me that it was a 33 year old car. I couldn't keep up the expenses and eventually I took the Mustang off the road. The car sat in my driveway and eventually made its way into the garage. In 2007 I put the car into restoration.
Restoration
It was a long road
In the fall of 2007, I shipped the car from my home on Long Island to Bundy Motor in Tolland, CT, 128 miles away. I did extensive research to find the right restoration shop and Bundy Motors came up highly recommended every time. I wasn’t crazy about shipping my car so far away but after visiting their shop I knew they were the right ones for me.
I spent 14 years restoring the Mustang back to factory, showroom conditions. I kept the car as original as possible, and I mean original to the car as possible, only changing what I needed with Ford original parts, now referred to as New Old Stock "NOS" parts.
Sometime during the restoration the project manager called me and asked me what my intentions were with the car. I was buying all Ford original parts which is usually done with show cars. At that point we shifted our focus from restoration to show car restoration. And now I have a concours car…
I restored the car to factory conditions. Everything you see is exactly as it rolled off the assembly line with the exception of the hood. The Mustang originally had a solid hood.
Here is a collection of photos of the various stages of the restoration process. The restoration was completed in April 2021.
April 9, 2021
The restoration is officially complete!
After 14 years in the shop the restoration on the Mustang was officially declared done on April 9th 2021.
I kept the car up in Tolland, CT until June and then I had the car shipped from directly from Bundy Motors (restoration shop) to the showfield at Carlisle for the 2021 Ford Nationals. The car came home to Long Island afterwards.
Here is a collection from the showfield at Carlisle.
Mustang Times Magazine Article
November 2021 Issue
She’s been published!
It was always a dream of mine to see my car featured in a magazine and in November 2021 that dream came true! Mustang Times Magazine, the official publication of the Mustang Club of America, published my story about my lifelong journey with the Mustang. The article is on pages 54 & 55 of the November 2021 issue and you can also read it here!
Enjoy!
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She's been judged!
MCA Nationals July 29, 2022
I attended the Nickel City Mustang Roundup, MCA Nationals hosted by the Western New York Shelby and Mustang Club in Buffalo, NY. It was my first time being judged. I entered in the Concours Driven Class which is one of the hardest classifications to be judged in. I won the Bronze award.
My actual trophy is a wooden buffalo with medals embedded in the plaque. I like showing off my little buffalo.
I won the bronze award because I used the wrong bolts here and there, and I am missing some clips and grommets. Nothing a weekend in the garage can't solve to win Gold at my next show.
First Place
September 11, 2022
I attended the First Annual All Ford Charity Car Show Sponsored by Newins Bay Shore Ford on September 11, 2022.
I thought the event was going to be an exhibition event to raise money for the Carroll Shelby Foundation, which it was, but the event was also a judged car show.
My Mustang was First Place in the First Generation Mustang class. This was the first time the Mustang won First Class.
Today
Present Day
Today I enjoy the Mustang as much as possible. I only take the car out on nice days, usually to and from a show or the occasional joy ride with friends & family. The car comes out for bagels, trophies, and photoshoots.