Why I almost sold my Mustang.

Having had a lot go through my head the last few months, as a part of all the other changes in my life, I think I wanted a more extreme one to go along with it. Most likely I will be leaving the educator profession after this summer. I am also working on a dietary change. The Mustang thing might not seem like such a big deal to most people. But, in actuality for me, it was HUGE. I had even stopped buying Mustang diecasts and started buying other cars. I was obsessing over those for a while. Something was not right...

My Mustang story began in 1991, I was eight years old at the time. My friend Brian and I were walking around his parents' neighborhood and he told me, "Hey, I heard my neighbor here has a huge collection of old cars." We walked over to the house to see if we could see any of the cars. On the street next to the house, there was a Grabber Orange with a tan top 1970 Mustang Convertible with a 351(it was later repainted and restored to Robin Egg Blue with a white top). It was in faded condition but not poor. We stood by it for a while looking inside and at all angles. From then on, we were hooked.

We didn't know much about Mustangs at that point. Next came books, model kits, diecasts, pictures, and videos. It became a passion. These days all of this research has allowed me to retain pretty much most facts about the forty eight year history of the Ford Mustang. I don't remember if it was that time or another day, but we knocked on the door to see if we could see some of the other Mustangs in the collection. Milton Johnson, a mid 60s man at the time answered the door. He directed us around the corner to his nine car garage that was attached to the house. Upon opening the door, Brian and I were greeted by nine tightly packed in pristine restored classic Mustangs. Ranging from 1965-1973, Johnson had a variety of models; convertibles, fastbacks, six cylinders, to Hi-Pos. After we picked up our jaws from the floor, he informed us that he had another garage similar to this in Longmont. At the time, his collection was thirty six cars strong. He let us sit in many of them. Smelling the scent of old cars, gasoline and uncatalyzed exhaust still brings back memories of those days.

Mr. Johnson had several very rare Mustangs. Some of them include a Midnight blue 1968 GT500KR convertible with the Police Interceptor 428 CI V8, two Lime Green 1967 Shelby GTs, and a 1969 Calypso Corral Boss 302. Over the next nine years, we would make several trips over there. One of those early trips included getting a ride in a Poppy Red 1965 GT Convertible, to go see his other garage. But, first he said, we had to call our parents to make sure it was ok to go with him. We got to pick up his 1967 Shelby GT500 model car that was his phone! This setup a ride I'll never forget. Sadly, the last I heard was that Mr. Johnson had to sell off his collection to pay for medical bills for his wife.

My Mustang enthusiasm may have dwindled a bit in my high school years, but in the back of my head I waited for the day I could get my first Mustang. I attended several car shows over the years and lusted after many Mustangs. In 1998, my dad bought a used unrestored (except for paint) 1966 Coupe with a 2 barrel 289 V8 and an auto in Prairie Bronze. A snail's pace thirteen seconds zero to sixty miles per hour. It was to be my car when I turned sixteen, but my mom didn't want me driving it as my first car due to the lack of airbags. So, it sat in storage, getting driven occasionally and two years later was sold to a sixteen year old girl and her family.

The years since those early days have included buying many car magazines, videos and searching on the internet for stuff about the Mustang. It was a dream for me to own one someday. I got my chance in 2007. After I graduated from college, I got a Tungsten Grey 2007 Mustang Pony package.
Being the artist, I couldn't leave it alone for very long. I modified it over the years. Different wheels, front fascias, and spoilers as well as decals and some performance mods. It is in my veins. Even my friends, who growing up were GM fans, have come over to the blue oval side now.

Going back to the sale of my Mustang, I thought about it off and on for a month or two. Thinking about four doors and a bigger trunk. It all sounded appealing. In a dramatic move, I put it up on autotrader.com. For two weeks, I never got one legitimate call. Then, I put it up on craigslist. Within 7 hours, I got an email and a phone call. The guy sounded like he was interested. I met with him and he looked her over. He was way too nit picky. He criticized every little detail. He kept saying how he was going to have to change things and put more money in to it. He was looking to buy it and turn around and resell it for a higher price. The morning of our meeting I noticed something was different. As, I washed the car for the meeting, I caught a bit of the excitement I hadn't felt for a while. I shrugged it off. But, it was the potential buyer's attitude towards my car that made me glad I didn't sell it to him. His negativity was the spark I needed to reinvigorate my passion. It all came back. More of the story to come...

This is so good that I realized this just in time for the Mustang's 48th Birthday!

 

Really good story, i almost shed a tear!

 

Thank you Codee

 

Great story. It's cool to see how other people got into mustangs.

 

Thank you Nathan. We all have our stories. I love retelling mine. This is the first time mine has been in print, though. Thanks for reading.

 

Great story. I would have told the nit picker. Hit the road.

 

I basically saluted him and somehow without the middle finger LOL. But, I thank him for giving me the spark back for Mustang enthusiasm.

 

That's a great story, Luke.......and I'm glad you're keeping your Mustang. They are more than just cars.....they have characters and become part of the family

 

Thank you so much Paul. I totally agree. My Whinnie is apart of my family and who I am!

 

Great story! I hope to sell mine one day only to turn around and buy a GT of some sort!

 

Thanks Josh!

 

Great story. I wish I had someone like Mr. Johnson when I was growing up. Keep the passion going!

 

Mr. Johnson changed my life. My friend Brian hasn't kept the enthusiasm like I have, though.

 

Made some spelling error fixes and added a bit.

 

I hear ya Luke. My darling Wifey had a difficult time understanding this until she got her GT.

 

I'm one of those GM guys who has come around to the Blue Oval.