I got this 1967 C-code, C4-equipped candyapple red Mustang (Click here to see the original bill of sale from 1967.) in October 1987, trading a '67 Firebird 400 convertible, which I had owned for about a month, for it. The Mustang looked bad, but ran great, while the Firebird looked pretty good but wouldn't run. A camshaft bolt had drilled a hole in the back of the water pump and pumped the engine full of water. 

I was a sophmore at N.C. State at the time with no money and little mechanical ability. I worked part time at a local golf course (referred to as "the rock" by us workers, and the superintendent was "the warden"), and an assistant greens superintendent there had the Mustang. But he'd always wanted a Firebird like mine. Thus, we traded.

He got the Firebird running well, but soon discovered rust, body filler and three different colors of paint. And then a relative spun a bearing while driving it, so the Firebird is lord-knows-where now. But I still have the Mustang. 

When I was home for the summer working in 1989, I spent evenings at Larry Council's Garage in my hometown of Williamston, N.C., working on Larry's NASCAR Dash Series race car, a Ford EXP. With a block out of a junkyard Pinto, a hot cylinder head, and a worn-out Ford 6-cylinder Econoline van and homemade trailer as a tow rig, we finished 18th in season points. Larry repaid me with a beautiful paint job on the Mustang.

Later in college, I got a part-time job with the N.C. Department of Agriculture, working in a shop that maintained approximately 40 trucks and other equipment. There, I learned a lot of mechanical skills from the lead mechanic, Tom Eadie. Tom helped me change from the stock two-barrel iron manifold and carb to the Edelbrock Performer RPM I have now. Tom has a '68 Camaro that he turned from a two-speed six cylinder into a 327-powered, 12:1-compression-ratio Z/28 four-speed. A friend of Tom's, a retired school bus mechanic, rebuilt my Mustang's C4 in the living room of his house trailer for $200.

From the time I got it until January 1993 when I bought my F-150, the Mustang was my everyday transportation. In 1992, when I got a job in Valdosta, Ga., after college, I put most everything I owned in the Mustang, strapped my golf bag to the trunk and drove the 575 miles to my new home. In Valdosta, I joined the South Georgia Classic Car Club. I encourage anyone who has a classic car club nearby to join it. They are great ways to have fun and learn. 

In 1994, I changed jobs and moved back near home to Greenville, N.C. With a better-paying job and extra income from my part-time landscaping business, I began to further improve my Mustang. I switched to front disk brakes from a Mercury Monarch, installed a Vintage Air air-conditioning system, added a Kenwood four-channel amplifier and four Polk speakers, bolted on a set of 15x7-inch Torq-Thrust D wheels with P225-60HR-15 Pirelli P6000 Sport Veloce tires and welded in new front floor pans. 

In 2000-2001, my Mustang underwent major body repair at Larry's shop and came out with new cowl panels, a new candyapple-red base coat-clear coat paint job, a new windshield and a vinyl top. The next year, we rebuilt the engine and aadded a few performance items.

Meanwhile, when I'm not on land, I'm on the Tar and Pamlico rivers on my '98 Kawasaki Jet Ski 900 STX. 

For those who are interested, here is my resume.

Cobras and more at VIR