What was your first car?

A question that resonates with every car guy....especially if the answer isn't embarrassing.  My first car was a 1969 Mustang coupe I found in town for $1300.

I didn't even have my license yet but I knew I wanted to buy my first project car. I worked all summer painting a catholic school and started stashing away the cash. I also started combing the local newspaper for potential targets. Do you remember buying cars from the paper? Before the internet, we had a local publication called the Bargain News that came out every Thursday that would be loaded with special interest vehicles. The trick was getting your hands on a copy as early on Thursday as possible and start calling the sellers to set up times to view the prospects. By Sunday, the listing was useless, because everyone you called would promptly reply that the car had been sold. The other way to find a car to buy was simply driving around. My brother would take me all around town looking for gems sitting on lawns or in driveways with their little 'For Sale' signs on them.

I found my car in a driveway parked under a cherry tree on the other side of town. The sad thing is that, at the time, $1300 was all I could afford, and the papers were chocked full nice cars in the $3500 range.  I remember seeing desirable cars like GTO's and Mach 1's for sale in that range. There was even a real Shelby GT 350 for sale for an unthinkable $6500.

My Mustang was a plain old '69 coupe.  Mechanically it was sound, the interior was good (with the exception of a ripped headliner) but the body was tired. The paint was dull, it had some rust spots and was missing a few trim pieces.

It had a 302 with a 2V carb, C4 automatic transmission, power steering, and horrible manual drum brakes (on all four wheels). I spent about a year or so going through the car. Luckily, Mustangs Unlimited was about 35 minutes away from my house. Once I had the mechanicals sorted my father actually stepped up to the plate and took it to a body shop and had it resprayed the original Acapulco Blue. Then I got my license and I was off. I drove this car everyday (rain, sleet or snow) to school and work. Eventually I slapped a swap meet Edlebrock intake and 4 barrel Holley on it. My brother then surprised me with Headman headers and a set of wheels from American Racing (so long hubcaps).

The car took a change in direction when I left for college.  No longer needing a daily driver my brother arranged to buy a stout 351W/C4 combination from a gearhead buddy of his.  The engine was great. It had an aggressive solid cam and lifters. Trick Flow aluminum heads, MSD ignition, and a high stall torque converter.  Once we got this thing running it was just silly. Way too much power for the stock 8" rear.   It didn't stop me from taking it to Lebanon Valley Dragway and doing a one-legger down the first half of the strip.

The last real iteration of this car was the addition of a Ford 9" read with a Traction Lock and 3:50 gears.  After college I wanted to address the remaining issues with the car.  Namely, I wanted to update the brakes, suspension and repair the rusty from frame rails. I also wanted to install a manual transmission (while away at college I learned that automatics are a sin).   At this time, the front suspension kits from  Total Control Products were becoming popular and that's what I wanted. While researching and sourcing parts for this work I came across an amazing deal on a '67 Mercury Cougar.

I'll get into the details of the Cougar in a later post, but for all intensive purposes the Cougar was too great a temptation.  It was an original big block car with a 4 speed manual and TCP suspension already installed for less money that if I bought the parts for my Mustang.  I pulled the trigger on the Cougar and the Mustang moved to the back burner.

I still have my '69 Mustang (but the engine and tranny combo were sold). For that matter, I still have the '67 Cougar. The current plan is to install a more mild engine/tranny combo in the Mustang and make it a nice streetable driver. This plan is partially the suggestion of my wife who claims I 'ruined' the car she loved with that stupid motor and transmission!

So, for now, it sits in my garage waiting for the time (and money) to get it back on the road.  The cool thing is that my sons have taken a liking to my cars. My eldest son Joshua (age 7) has called dibs on the Cougar and my youngest Luke (age 4) has adopted the Mustang as his own....so he periodically reminds me that we have to fix it and get it back on the road....soon enough.