Description
Ah, the infamous “Keeper” My personal car
So I was at a car show a number of years ago and met an older gent who had a 65 Mustang Fastback done up like a Hertz GT350. Black with the Gold stripes, I was eager to speak to him about it.
We chatted a bit and I said “is this for sale?” He laughed and said “No way, this is my high school car and its never going to be sold but I have a 68 back at the shop with a 428”
I was, let me say, slightly excited and asked when he was heading back as the show had not even started yet. He said “I really don’t like shows all that much I will head back now”
I was in my dads Prius and he was driving like the devil incarnate in the Hertz clone and it was all I could do to get my dads microwave oven car up to speed and keep him in view.
So we got to his immaculate farm and there we stood in front of a building behind his house. He opened the door and a car guys dream stood before me. About 7 or 8 vintage Mustangs plus an old Ford truck and some other odds and ends such as tractors and old tuning equipment. We uncovered several beauties to chat about them and finally got to the very back corner where under a K code old race car fastback on top of the lift was a dark highland green 1968 fastback. I could barely get around it as it was under a four post lift and very tightly packed in there against two walls in front and to the side. He lifted the hood/ bonnet and this old C code beauty had been given a heart transplant. A 428CJ Twin carb monster of a motor. The seller told me the car hadn’t been started in at least 8 years….. I had to own this car!!! Negotiations were impossible. He gave me a price and that was the price, There was no discussion. I had the feeling this gent wasn’t going to budge, It was put up or shut up and I put up!
So what is a car nut to do? I bought it!! (Sept 2021) A few days later I went over with a large stack of cash for the car. At the same time I bought his buddies 68 coupe which was a stunner as well in Bronze and fully restored.
As the car hadn’t been started in many years I had it collected by flatbed haulier (still not starting it) and brought to my fathers farm in Lancaster PA. I had another flat bed collect the car (still not starting it) and deliver it to port to be shipped to the UK in a container (packed without starting it) The car, once it arrived in the UK , was again put onto a flat bed haulier and delivered to my shop. There she sat until my business calmed down enough to give her a slot at Back to life cars Chelmsford to bring her out of her slumber
A few tips on flatbed to back to life cars and back to my shop for this car in 2023 to allow for cars that I had sold to be completed at Back to life and a large amount of work was completed including: Small bits of body work, Stereo install, Amp install, Sub frame connector install, leafs, shackles, new rims and tyres, new battery, “Tanks” Gas tank with submerged pump installed for quiet running, shocks and a ton of bits and bobs and of course a careful recommissioninging of the long slumbering monster motor that I had been so careful not to try and start since purchase!!!
Then in a moment of madness I decided along with Back to lifes guidance that the car needed a manual trans. So I ordered a complete swap kit from Modern Driveline. Every piece to swap from a C6 Auto to a Manual TKX five speed. This was sent over and installed by back to life. Every part new, Clutch, bell, trans, shifter, etc etc etc. All invoices in hand $6900 in this invoice alone.
Then as the steering was a bit heavy being manual I asked if a Borgeson Kit could be installed. So I supplied a Borgeson kit and ordered the specific components to allow a borgeson kit to be installed. This included a $600 balancer and pulley needed to swap out the balancer on the 428 to allow the kit to fit along with a big block bracket and longer hoses.
Car was then sent to a dyno shop (Mill lane autos) to be tuned further. Mill lane autos disassembled the cars and changed some bits and ran her up on the dyno and got her running perfectly.
The car then went to Spray Shack Braintree for final paint work
£29k in works done since arrival back in the UK , thats without VAT
The car is now back with me and absolutely docile at normal speeds. You could putter around villages and small roads all day along and not know a tiger was under the hood waiting to be unleashed
Step on the go pedal and the car rockets forward. You feel like an action hero being propelled forward by the 428CJ, TKX and 4:11 gear set in the 9 inch out back.
This car isn’t cheap, Every dime that needed to be spent was spent.
It is simply a rocketship that acts like a lamb until you get on it.
If you want the big dog, this is it.
I don’t need to sell it, but if you want it, its for sale.
Thanks for reading
