SPOILER: No pictures.
Before my mom died, one of the things she told me--made me promise--was that I couldn't just invest any inheritance, that it shouldn't be used "only" to pay for college for the kids, that I HAD to do something 'frivolous'. Well, then Pete died, and I've been dealing with the stupidity of Pete's lawyer (Mike Roeder)--add in a health crisis, the usual life events, and I kept putting off that promise to mi madre.
Finally, last month, I started looking to fulfill that promise. The intent was to buy a new Mustang or new-ish at least, and I found a couple of cars that fit the bill perfectly. I contacted the dealers (one in Pekin, one in Milwaukee) and they said everything was great, no problem--and then when it was time to actually pony (nice pun, huh) up the money, suddenly, they both "sold" that car and said they were looking forward to showing me others 'just like' the car I'd been looking at. Ahhh, the old bait-and-switch.
Disappointed, I actually had GoogleAds pop up some vintage Mustangs--a couple looked pretty sweet, and that included a 1965 Mustang out in Ohio. The dealership (
Village Motors) and salesman (Josh Martin) in Millersburg was nice and efficient--and generally open with what they knew, and with that (a total, surprising relief compared to the other dealers), out to Ohio we went, and on Tuesday, I completed the promise to Mom, buying that Mustang.
It's not perfect--it's got some flaws:
1 - There's a hole in the power steering fluid pump somewhere. That's for sure.
2 - The driver door has issues--internal panel is partially off and the window doesn't roll up
3 - The cloth on the interior roof/ceiling is loose (I'm told that's a sign the car's seen a lot of cigarette smoke).
4 - The previous owner put in a "real" stereo system 20 years ago. Hah. Hah-hah!
5 - The paint is dinged/chipped in places--on the driver door, I suspect the door was hit by something at some point accounting for all of the issues.
6 - The passenger door latch is missing.
It also has "traditional" foibles:
1 - It's a '60s car, so it drinks gas like a college student inhales beer.
2 - It steers like a pontoon boat. I'd forgotten that since it's been years since I drove Pete's old pickup, longer still since I drove the beloved '73 LTD. (Turn the wheel 30 degrees and you're just barely starting to turn...)
3 - It's a deathtrap. Lap belts only, no belts in the back seat, and everything inside the passenger compartment is sharp/pointed/hard. Of course, if you don't hit anything, you have no problems, right?
4 - No A/C (other than 'natural air'...aka windows)
5 - No cruise-control or things like power-jacks, USB outlets, etc
But...
1 - The current paint job is an awesome champagne/burgundy.
2 - I have enough room to stretch my legs out straight while driving.
3 - It looks beautiful.
4 - There is a big engine in it (v8, 289) and it works VERY well.
5 - It is fun to drive.
#5 is the biggie. Seven hours back here without cruise control, but I didn't mind. It was fun to drive. I didn't worry about a radio or anything else. It was so different, much more 'natural', but I'm not sure that comment can make sense to people who have never driven a pre-1990ish vehicle. It's you, the car, and that's it.
So now the object is to get all the "big issues" (the pain, the driver door, the power steering) taken care of. Then it's time to remember that I used to (probably still can) do a lot of the basic things that I haven't had to do since the LTD. Mmmm...mmm...mmmm.
Oops--AND, I'll have to drive this up to the QC so Erik Johnson and I can show off the cars (he has a modern Corvette), then try and get to Keokuk for a couple hours (Uncle Mike has a modern Mustang). And then maybe next summer--maybe Julie and I take a couple days to just drive Route 66.
I do this because it's awesome, but always--I love my mom. She'd be happy.
