Growing up in the Washington Manor neighborhood of San Leandro, Kris and Jim met and dated in High School. When Jim graduated, he was drafted into the Army, and found himself in the jungles of Vietnam. Meanwhile, Kris graduated a year later, and was given a 1967 Ford Mustang by her Grandfather. Her first car, Lime Gold.
Jim came back from the war and they reunited. With the National Guard deployed, and just two days after "Bloody Thursday," Jim and Kris were married in Berkley amongst the protests and rioting, needing a police escort to get to the church. They headed to the reception in the mustang. Too bad for the best man —his lime gold '67 got covered in newlywed decorations by mistake!
Life moves quick. Soon there was an addition to the family, and then a second. I spent my early years fighting with my younger sister for shotgun in that Mustang, to the grocery, the post office, down to the beach. A daily driver for the family. No matter what dad was driving, and he was always looking for his next ride (VW bug, GTO, Triumph, F150, T-bird, Escort, Mustang, Camaro, Corvette, Corvette, Corvette) that '67 held a seat at the table. Eventually it fell on hard times and was rolled into the garage where it sat.
Of course a parked car in a garage is a great play thing for an 8 year old, and I spent a lot of time behind the wheel pumping the pedals, honking an imaginary horn, racing all the bikes stacked up against the wall. When you're too small to reach the pedals, you're perfect size to duck under the dash when the parents come into the garage looking for you.
A few years later, Dad got that Mustang running again, just in time for me to turn 16 and take the wheel legitimately. For two years I drove that car before heading off to college. Little sis drove it for a while longer until engine trouble pushed it back into the garage again. That was 1995.
20 years later it's time to resurrect. Circumstances are different this time. My wife and daughter watched as I rolled the car out of the garage and gave her a quick wash. It doesn't run, and the pictures I took of it on these pages show the issues. I need to find someone I can trust to bring her back. Someone who gets the car-as-family mantra, and could get this ride back into shape. My daughter is 8 months old. I want her to have the same childhood memories her daddy has of this car. Who knows, maybe I'll be ready to give her the keys when she turns 16. or 26. or 36.
The goal of this build is to have a DEPENDABLE driver. John at opentrackerracing.com has given me a lot of great advice, and I'd like to purchase components from him where applicable. I've listed these in order of importance.
