Well, before my fastback there were many 'guineau pigs.' Actually, they were cars that a friend of mine(Lennie Gardner) restored to sell. He has been restoring Mustangs since the late 70's. Around 1990, I met him and asked if I could have a side job cleaning some of his used cars. Eventually, I was helping him with Mustangs that he was fixing up to sell. It started out cleaning small parts, then painting dashes, then putting on bumpers and then finally, doing complete restorations. All of the cars that we have restored are drivers. I had never been involved in a 'concours' restoration before my fastback. Even though, I had learned plenty to do a concours restoration.
This page accounts for some of the cars that I helped Lennie restore over the last 5-7 years.
This is a 66 coupe that was pretty loaded. It was sold to a man in Raleigh, NC and can be seen at car shows regularly.
This is a 67 coupe from Arizona. It was also loaded. If I remember right, this car was sold in Carlisle, PA.
This 67 showed up at the shop one day. The guy was trying to get an appraisal on the car because it had been involved in an accident in the rear. He ended up selling it to Lennie and it was restored and sold in Maggie Valley, NC on July 4th weekend 1994.
This 66 convertible was a car that was already owned by someone and we did the restoration. We did everything on the topside, he had had the engine and suspension work done elsewhere. This car was originally owned by the fellows' father so it had sentimental value. Who would ever guess that this car was a 6 cylinder with standard interior? We did what we were told to do! We converted it to a GT with black pony interior. The original color was candyapple, but it was changed to Signal Flare Red. It looks pretty good. The owner of this car hardly ever drives it nowadays.
another side shot, with top up
black pony interior with console
This is another convertible that we restored. This was an original pony interior convertible. It was a 6 cylinder, automatic. This car didn't bring as much as a V-8, but it did pretty good. This car was sold in Maggie Valley, NC during 4th of July weekend, 1995. A man from South Carolina bought it.
pony interior, nice blue/white combination
Another convertible.... This car is an early 65. Production was in September of 64. It had alot of 64.5 features. This car was a factory V-8 car with automatic transmission and power steering. It hardly had any structural rust like you would expect on a convertible. The inner and outer rockers and floor pans were excellent as were the torque boxes. We did have to put a left quarter panel and tailight panel in it from damage caused by a former accident. This car was also sold in Maggie Valley, NC on July 4th weekend except in 1996. This is the nicest car to-date that Lennie and I restored.
not concours, but pretty darn close!
standard white interior with black appointments
This was my 'first' real restoration that I did on my own expense. Lennie helped me with some of the interior, but I did everything else. This car was an early 65 V-8 convertible. Some of you may have seen it for sale back in the early summer. I paid around $4000 for this one and did a complete restoration. It was sold for $16,500 to a very nice couple in Virginia. I don't know if I made much on this one, but bringing the car back to its former glory was rewarding. The reason I give the bought and sold prices is to show people what a nice restored Mustang will realistically bring and also what a decent restoration project costs!!
Well, these are not all the cars that we have done. Maybe about 1/3 since I have been around and maybe not even close to how many Lennie has done. Lennie has probably bought and sold more than 200 Mustangs. If there are any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me.
