This week we have something a little different for you in the way of our blog contribution. We will have a guest blogger who wrote the story of a very unusual and rare car with a very lucky owner. More on that later for you, but first a mystery car arrives in the yard…

Hawaii 5.0

As the heading suggests we have a link to the great TV series all be it a tenuous one. We see this little lady which was parked up amongst Adam other little gems. We grabbed a few pics of it before it was moved around. Why is it here? What is it’s purpose? We asked Adam and he just said – ‘All will be revealed in good time…’ This Fox-body Mustang spent the early years of her life in Hawaii as a Hertz rental car for fifteen odd years. The car was then purchased from Hertz and shipped over to Spain for a couple of years, then eventually it ended up in the UK. The car’s incredible condition is due to its previous locations in hot climates without a doubt. Not only that, the car has a genuine 34,000 miles from new! Convertible for those rare summer days this is a beautiful car, but not to everybody’s taste and we get that. As the years go by, these cars just seem to look better and better or is it just us?

Under the hood is pretty much all original with many of the items that are normally missing for some reason or another.

How does it sound? Awesome, and starts right on the button.

The interior looks in absolutely mint condition, just like it was from the factory.

How do we know the real mileage? Well, with provenance like this little lot, there is no question it’s all genuine. Just incredible.

Now for our guest writer, our very own Mark L.

…….. and now were going to take you from Hawaii 5.0 to Madagascar  …. Madagascar Orange to be exact. A rare paint option from Ford for 1968 model year under their “Rainbow of colors” promotion.

This extremely presentable example is now in the ownership of “Lucky Tony” from Milton Keynes (more on the “Lucky” moniker later). After decades of hankering for a classic Mustang Tony was in a position to realise his dream earlier this year and chomping at the bit to get one of his own. Though no stranger to desirable cars Tony was new to Mustangs and sought our advice. One of our associates here at Mustang Maniac advised and scanned classified ads with him and accompanied Tony to view potential vehicles. To his credit, Tony heeded all advice and even when frustrated at the seemingly constant “no it’s a shed” he never allowed his heart to rule his head …. the car had to be a good one and we’re pleased he stuck to that ethos when he could so easily have let eagerness steer him blindly into a rusty money pit.

Then this particular car came on the market and was located up “T’north” (ed. up north of the country for our American readers), by some considerable distance. Tony could only view it on a Sunday, but alas his ally in the search could not make it that day. It was agreed that Tony would go up and view the car and would pay particular attention to certain areas known to be previous or potential trouble. If he wasn’t sure he would video call and seek advice before making a decision.

Clearly Tony had listened and learned a great deal during the previous months search as he viewed the car and felt confident enough to buy, insure and drive the car home. Later he brought the car to Mustang Maniac for a a check over. Adam gave the car his usual fastidious check and pointed out that there were a couple of things that required attention and also suggested a few things that would improve the car and enhance the driving experience. He punctuated his look over by saying “Well …. we’re going to have to name you “Lucky Tony” now … cos you’ve bought a very solid car, with no Mickey Mouse welding repairs ….. it’s a good car and it will be better”. It was nice to see the weight lift from Tony’s shoulders and a mile wide smile appear. 

The car was booked in to have the few issues addressed and begin the process of improving an already nice car. The car came back recently and was given to Yogi to perform his magic on. First was a niggling wheel bearing and a new brake caliper fitting kit to replace one that had previously been incorrectly fitted.

This mistake unfortunately had made the brake pads less than optimum so they were also replaced. Luckily the discs themselves were unharmed.

Then the bear fitted all new shock absorbers and a set of 4.5 mid eye leaf springs. The front spring perches were found to be living on borrowed time so replaced, the rear brakes were cleaned and adjusted, a Monte Carlo bar added and a headlamp relay kit wired in.

Then a larger sway bar to stiffen up the front and the steering valve and linkages were regreased and tightened up. A much improved steering wheel was added for aesthetics just before Yogi took the car to the alignment shop and locked and bolted the doors to tap in his secret camber/caster and toe settings. Lastly a small wiring fault to the hazards was attended to.

Lucky Tony turned up to collect the car before we’d finished the phone call to say it was ready and upon collection a plan of action was formulated for a few further upgrades in the near future … while we scoffed his biscuit bribe (clever man).  The plan is to upgrade to a superior Borgeson steering box and possibly performance front coil springs once Tony has some miles on the car.

A short while after leaving we got a message to say :

 “Hi Guys,

1000% better

I drive the car now … not the car driving me and me trying to stop it going in a hedge lol

Enjoyed every minute of the drive home”

We like that kind of feedback, not so much because it makes us feel good about what we do but also because it’s great to see someone finally get what they’ve wanted for a very long time and it lives up to their expectations. Now we will move forward with “Lucky Tony”… to exceed them.

Nice car. Well done Tony.

Great write up from Mark who was there to welcome the car into the yard with Yogi to give the rare beast the initial once over.

Should we do more guest writers for our blogs? 😀 Let us know in the poll.

Covid

Due to the UK’s Government lockdown for the next four weeks into December, we will be following the guidelines set out for us. The work in our workshops and blog updates could be affected we just don’t know yet. Watch this space for updates and above all:

Keep Safe!