RagTop
Old Grumpy
The two '69 Mustangs in our family were built on the same day in 1968 at the San Jose Assembly Plant in Milpitas, CA (Now the Great Mall). On Friday, October 2 they will both turn 52 years old. My old girl is holding up pretty well.
I spent about $5K to get my son's SportsRoof, which he bought as his first car in 1994, running and out of my 3 car garage, where it had been living for about five years, and back into his hands. I was looking for another SportsRoof in 1998 when I stumbled upon this convertible. The door tag build dates were close, but Ford Customer Service confirmed by using the VINs that they were built on the same day in 1968. Mine now looks pretty much like it would have in '68 if I'd bought it new (except for a 428 SCJ and a 4 speed toploader). My old girl is a modified 302 with a C4. I was hunting for a fastback because I had fallen in love with my son's car as we restored it. The '69 SportsRoof body, IMHO, has to be the best looking Mustang of the first generation. When I found the convertible nearby using the Vintage Mustang Forum want ads, I had to go and see it. There aren't a ton of '69/'70 convertibles around. It was looking pretty shabby when I visited, but I ponied up (Mustang joke) the 3,500 bucks and bought it from its little old lady owner. It has won 32 awards and trophies since I started showing it and has been to Hot August Nights four times, Fabulous Fords Forever multiple times and even to Birmingham, AL for the 45th Anniversary celebration. My son's SportsRoof has lived a much different life. It is a standard SportsRoof that had come from the factory as a 2V 351W (H code), but a P.O. had changed the exterior color to Royal Maroon from Acapulco Blue and had swapped in a complete Mach 1 black interior to replace the original two tone blue standard stuff. It looks like a Mach 1 down to the pins and lanyards and the pop open gas cap. Since he's owned it he has had the engine built to M code (4V) standards and, until I had it modified again, he had a 3.73 9" TracLoc rear end in it. When I spent the dough on it to get it running I swapped the rear gears to a 3.25 ratio because the car with the three speed FMX tranny and 3.73s was almost undriveable at CA highway speeds. Anyway, these two old girls showed up 26 and 22 years ago on our doorstep and have been members of the family ever since.
I spent about $5K to get my son's SportsRoof, which he bought as his first car in 1994, running and out of my 3 car garage, where it had been living for about five years, and back into his hands. I was looking for another SportsRoof in 1998 when I stumbled upon this convertible. The door tag build dates were close, but Ford Customer Service confirmed by using the VINs that they were built on the same day in 1968. Mine now looks pretty much like it would have in '68 if I'd bought it new (except for a 428 SCJ and a 4 speed toploader). My old girl is a modified 302 with a C4. I was hunting for a fastback because I had fallen in love with my son's car as we restored it. The '69 SportsRoof body, IMHO, has to be the best looking Mustang of the first generation. When I found the convertible nearby using the Vintage Mustang Forum want ads, I had to go and see it. There aren't a ton of '69/'70 convertibles around. It was looking pretty shabby when I visited, but I ponied up (Mustang joke) the 3,500 bucks and bought it from its little old lady owner. It has won 32 awards and trophies since I started showing it and has been to Hot August Nights four times, Fabulous Fords Forever multiple times and even to Birmingham, AL for the 45th Anniversary celebration. My son's SportsRoof has lived a much different life. It is a standard SportsRoof that had come from the factory as a 2V 351W (H code), but a P.O. had changed the exterior color to Royal Maroon from Acapulco Blue and had swapped in a complete Mach 1 black interior to replace the original two tone blue standard stuff. It looks like a Mach 1 down to the pins and lanyards and the pop open gas cap. Since he's owned it he has had the engine built to M code (4V) standards and, until I had it modified again, he had a 3.73 9" TracLoc rear end in it. When I spent the dough on it to get it running I swapped the rear gears to a 3.25 ratio because the car with the three speed FMX tranny and 3.73s was almost undriveable at CA highway speeds. Anyway, these two old girls showed up 26 and 22 years ago on our doorstep and have been members of the family ever since.
