The owner's manual

YAY! My re-print of the original 1973 Mustang owner's manual arrived today :-)

Winter parking

Today I left my car for winter-parking. I found a place where it will be kept warm and clean during the cold Dutch winter. I won't be seeing my car for a few months now...

Emptying the trunk

My trunk was full of old parts. Some junk but some originals! So this was worthwhile investigating, especially because I had no idea what some parts were!

The most interesting part in this photo is the little cooler in at the bottom-right corner. It's a cooler for power steering liquid. I was told it's only really necessary when racing so not really something for my car but I'm definitely keeping it!

The cardboard crap at the top actually used to be the glovebox but the previous owner ripped it out. Not cool... But the most important parts of it, the edges, are still good so I could replace the cardboard with wood or perhaps the same cardboard...

The other big metal parts at the bottom, including the little wheel are used to mount the airconditioner pump. Good to keep!

I had no idea what this was at first but this, is the airco-pump! It weighs very much so I thought it was an electro-motor or generator of some kind at first. It's original so I'm gonna keep it. If I'll ever be able to use it I don't know...

This is part of an old LPG-kit. No need for it anymore.

Old air-intake for use in the old LPG-kit.

Need to keep! Old airconditioning radiator.

This is the most important part to keep. It's the original air filter. I want to clean it and put it back in after I get rid of all the LPG stuff.

Some little pump. Also from the old LPG kit I reckon...

Old 'stang, new 'stang

People been asking to see my car so I drove it past my work today. A colleague of mine drives a 2008 Mustang and we did a little photo shoot. 35 years between them.

My favourite photo.

The newer 'stang has gotten a rather fat ass...

Cold starting on LPG

I noticed some bad starting behaviour so I tested a cold start. It doesn't always want to start. It fired up today though. Here's a little movie of me starting my car in my friend's parking garage where it's temporarily arked.

The white Grande, part 2

So today I went back for a second look and a test drive. I also had the cash in my pocket but I didn't say that ;-)

So we opened the door...

Voila.

We drove it out for a second round of inspections. It's a beautiful car.

Then we went for the drive. All went well. No funny sounds, it started well and runs good on both fuel and LPG. The hood was warm and their cat liked that a lot. Now I have kitty paws on the hood ;-)

After thinking it all over for a bit I decided to make it mine and I bought it! I now officially own my first car and it's a '73 Mustang Grande and I'm mighty pleased with it!

I drove it back to a friend's garage where it can stay for now.

Bye for now little pony, see you again soon!

The white Grande, part 1

Not many Mustangs to my liking have been for sale the past month and then suddenly I came across this one. I instantly liked it. So today I went to have a quick look. I was prepared to see loads of rust and broken bits etc. after the last two visits which had been so disappointing.

The owner is a farmer's son. I seriously don't know why he ever bought it. When he opened the door, the first thing I saw was the spot on the bumper where paint has chipped off and I thought "oh no, here we go again...". But then I looked more and closer and I couldn't find any serious rust and I started getting excited!

He let me start the car and drive it outside. I have to say that the very first time you turn the key in these babies is VERY special. It feels like firing up a tank! You feel and hear that V8 coming to life and you're hooked!

So I did my usual dance around the car making lots of pictures. I loved it! It seems to be in great condition and the owner ain't asking too much! The owner told me that it has been re-painted though so I'm gonna be extra careful.

I'll come back for a test drive I think...

The '71 Sportsroof

Another Mustang to look at today. The photos in the ad looked OK but I was weary because the owner seemed a bit dodgy. He also acted funny when I asked him for the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). Again I brought a friend and my camera. It's very important not to rush things so I walked around the car 20 times and looked for nearly an hour. Ask about everything and look everywhere! In the end the owner took me for a spin as well. It seemed to drive OK.

So this was a '71 Sportsroof. Nice model actually, do not confuse it with a Mach 1. It had a smaller engine in it with which I wasn't too pleased about. A muscle car needs... muscle, yes.

Another thing I noted on the door sticker was that this car was actually exported to Switzerland straight after production. Just imagine through how much snow and salt it's been driving! These American cars do not exactly have great reputations when it comes to rust you see...

But then when you look real close you come across all these funny things. So, you remove rust, weld in a new piece but you don't weld it completely closed? And then you leave it to rust even further? Obviously you don't give a fuck about the car then...

The corner of the door was rotting away so bad that you could stick your finger in all the way. Seriously bad! There were other bits of rust in very funny places as well.

And then this little hole. When I pressed just underneath, water came out. There was water in the window sill. I mean, nooooooo!

This was so not going to be my car. Real pity. I felt screwed because the photos in the ad were obviously from way back when this car wasn't such a pile of shit...

Neeeeeext!

The baby blue hardtop

So I'm out there, looking for my own car now. I'd love a '73 Mustang, not necessarily a Mach 1. There are not too many Mustangs for sale that are in drivable condition.

I saw an ad for a '73 hardtop and today I went to look!

That's it. Not looking as hot as in the pictures with the ad. When we arrived I just saw the owner drying the back window with a towel, on the inside... Red alert!

So I really took my time inspecting the car. I brought a colleague as backup and I photographed all the bad things I came across to have another look when I came back home. This crack in the windshield didn't make me happy.

Rusty pockets in the trunk...

Inside it smelled damp. And you could see that it was damp because there was condensation on the inside of the meters. That seemed very bad to me! Another big disappointment.

Apart from rust in bad places the interior wasn't in great shape either. This piece is hard to replace I believe. My colleague and I also think that this car was involved in an accident that caused this crack because the hood of the trunk was funny as well. It was out of alignment with the rest of the body. Very odd indeed.

I had seen enough to know I wanted to pass on this car. It's good for someone who wants to buy it for maybe 2000 and then spend a lot of money on a full restoration but I don't have the knowledge or place for something like that.

I felt a bit crushed after my first viewing, bad start.

Got my license!

Today I passed my Dutch driving test! I'll pick it up in two weeks because first I'm going on holiday for 2 weeks :-)

How it all started...

Classic or iconic cars have always had my interest. Simply because often they are just works of art. They are the "they don't make 'm like that no more" type of car. Beautiful and/or powerful. But I never had my license so never really thought about buying my own some day.

So, many years ago when I lived in Australia and where I got my first driver's license, I visited a "Show and shine" where I fell in love with this Mustang:

I had no clue about Mustangs at the time, now I know it's a '73 Mach 1.

I moved back to Amsterdam and today I flipped through some old photos and came across this Mustang again and I posted on Facebook that one day when I was "big enough" I'd get one and an old friend (Marco Drost - Thanks!) said "well, you may not wanna wait much longer coz you are pretty big already". "Big" referring to my age btw ;-)

This made me think. I had some money and I figured what good is money in the bank? And I felt I deserved something nice after the last couple of years. And also, I just got my license and what good is a license without a car? And if you're gonna get a car, it's gotta be something awesome in MY opinion...

So I want to get and keep/restore a Mustang. And that's what this blog is about, hope you like it :-)

PS: I do not actually have my Dutch license yet, but will have that soon! ;-)