Car Lust: 2010 MCA Grand National

This year The Mustang Club of America held its Grand National show in Bellevue, Wash., right across Lake Washington from Seattle. It was sponsored by Mustangs Northwest and was held this past weekend. The MCA judged show was on Saturday, followed by the Roundup and All-Ford picnic on Sunday. The judged show had about 225 Mustangs, and more than a thousand Fords showed up the next day. For the Mustang fan (that would be me) it was pretty near heaven on Earth.

Of course, you can get pictures of hot Mustangs, Boss 302s, Shelbys, Mach I's, etc., at any old site. I managed to spend some time looking for particularly Car Lust-worthy specimens amongst the usual array of perfectly restored Mustangs and other Fords. And while 90 percent of the offerings were Mustangs, there were a few other Fords. Heck, there were even some Mustangs that often get overlooked when placed within a mile of a 429 Cobra Jet. I grabbed a few photos of some of the more Lust-inducing models that I particularly liked, some Mustangs, some not, and even a couple "traditional" muscle Mustangs that I thought were interesting.

First up, we have that classic Car Luster model, the 1974-1978 Mustang II. In the past, IIs were often stuck out in the middle of nowhere and were often met with snide remarks by the Mustang "enthusiast" crowd. That seems to be changing as the IIs gain more acceptance. This year there were seven in the MCA judged show, representing a nice cross section of the models: three Cobra II's, my brown fastback (left), a couple of Ghia's, and an unrestored '74. The latter was a "grandmother" car and was really in remarkable condition and showed a lot of what constituted original equipment, which you can't often find on restored or just plain updated cars. So we spent a lot of time checking out various parts to see what was factory original.

One of the Ghias was particularly interesting. It was in the process of being restored (below, right)--nearly done, in fact--and was being brought back in the original colors. We hadn't seen that color combination before: white with green vinyl top and green trim. Turns out that it was used in various print advertisements and the owner had a copy of one and was using that as a guide in the restoration.

Three other Mustang IIs showed up the following day, all of them Modifieds. They're a bit too modified to be my cup of tea, but they were all fastbacks tweaked and tuned to within an inch of their lives. I have to say, it was great to talk to fellow II owners, most of which revolved around where to find parts, which vendors to avoid, etc.

Speaking of green, the photo at the top is one of my two favorites at the show. Truth be told, it stuck out like a sore thumb, but in a good way. That car is owned by Betty and Neil Halbart up in Langley, B.C. and they've done a beautiful job with it. It's very spartan, all the better to show off the Turquoise Aqua paint and chrome. The color in reality is close to what you see in the photo. They say some people just hate it (mostly men) and many wondered why they would have it repainted in that color (many have said the same about mine ...). But they wanted to keep it original, and I am glad of that. I think it's a stunning color and to my mind captures the style of the early-mid '60s perfectly. In fact, there were several that were repainted in the original colors, some of which seem a little odd to our eyes. I counted three in, yes, pink, although Ford called it "Dusky Rose". Probably what appeals to me apart from the historical nature of those colors is the seeming disjoint between our expectations of what a muscle car should look like and these soft pastel colors.

The other car vying for my affections was a '66 convertible GT in what the owner said was "Sahara Beige". "Beige?" I hear you say; "BEIGE???". Well, yes. Not what you call stunning, but the interior -- called "Emberglow and Parchment Pony" -- really made this car something special (left). I think the dark brown trim really makes it look elegant in a refined sort of way with a touch of the outdoorsy. The owner wasn't around when I was drooling over it, but he had a sign up telling the story of how he acquired it. It's one of those almost fantasy scenarios where a neighbor of his growing up was driving it around for years and years and the kid is always bugging him to sell it to him, until one day the owner says "Let's have a talk about my car." Apparently, the interior has been redone but in the original scheme, and otherwise kept in its original condition.

So much for the Mustangs. Sunday was the all-Ford roundup and, while there weren't a whole lot of other models present, a few stood out. IIRC, about 5-7 of these De Tomaso Panteras were there. Somewhat sheepishly, I admit I'd forgotten about our own Car Lust post on this, and was flummoxed as to why an Italian mid-engined sports car was at this show. Reading the above link you will find that it had a Cleveland 351 in it and was built starting in 1971 and sold at Lincoln-Mercury dealers and continued to be produced up until 1993.

Checking the background of that photo you can see a couple of other cars. To the immediate left is the back end of a 1963 Ranchero. It was nowhere near in mint condition and was, in fact, what we here at Car Lust refer to as "everyday iron". The owner--and by that I mean the original and only owner--had only recently passed away and for that reason the car was for sale. Let me tell you, for all of about 10 seconds my head swam with all the things I could do with this thing, but sanity (and a potentially murderous Spousal Unit) prevailed, and I walked away sadly ... only to be regaled with several other Rancheros including a nice late '70s one, the sort that were based on the "personal luxury" Thunderbird. There were also a couple of mid-'70s Rancheros based on the Gran Torino.

Just to the right of the old Ranchero you can make out the hood of this (left) '55-'57 Thunderbird (sorry about the photo, I don't know what those black bars are, but they kinda make it look rather avant garde, no?) and it is a light green (might have been called "Tropical Green"). This was one of only three T-Birds that I saw, which was kind of disappointing. Again, this was the original color which the owners had retained when they repainted it. Off to the left you can just make out part of a black one of the 2002-2005 generation. One other of the 1960s vintage showed up later, but I only caught a glimpse from a distance.

A few other specialty cars were there, including the GT-40 pictured below. That one drew a lot of attention. A Ford GT was there for a while on Saturday, and a gaggle of Shelbys were also over in the Shelby area.

There were a lot more interesting cars which would bore you to tears were I to list them all. Many I never knew existed. One example of a Twister Special was there, which were special edition 1970 Mach 1's delivered in small numbers to Kansas dealerships. Another was a "High Country Special", a version of the California Special delivered to Colorado dealers from 1966-68 (do they even do this anymore?). One guy had a newer Mustang and had airbrush painted much of the top of the engine and underside of the hood in an elaborate mural much as you see a lot of lowrider owners do. And at one point, a convoy of Fox body police Mustangs came rolling in, lights flashing, and sirens ... well, blaring at least once for effect.

Finally, to toot my own horn a bit, my Mustang II won First Place in my class, and all but one of the other Mustang IIs won awards as well. This was my first car show and while it was a bit overwhelming to not only see all those Mustangs but also be a part of the action, I have to say it was entirely rewarding. Now that I actually won something, I might be able to enter the old beast again next year albeit without all the stress.

Credits: All photos taken by me except for the Mustang IIs, which were taken by Dan S. over at MustangII.net. I also have to give a shout out to Brad's Custom Auto who did the outstanding work on my engine and exhaust that the judges were so impressed with.

--Anthony Cagle

Comments

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Anthony Cagle on July 21, 2010 at 09:15 AM

Addendum: There were also a couple of the mid-'80s SVO Mustangs with the Turbo 4 engines. Those also tended to have gotten short shrift, but were really interesting designs. At least one Mustang II guy is in the process of putting one into a '74. The radiator is farther back in that year so a V8 can't fit, but a hopped-up 4 cylinder seems like a great fit.

Cookie the Dog's Owner on July 21, 2010 at 10:57 AM

Great post, and congrats on the win! I'd probably have been drooling on the Panteras and trembling at the sight of the GT40, but I find the unusual pastels and other rare variations intriguing.

custom car carpet on July 21, 2010 at 11:30 AM

The color of the Thunderbird looks great. Do you know what this color would be called? Is it a custom paint?

Alex Flander on July 21, 2010 at 12:40 PM

I would have loved to be there.

Awesome stuff

tomm on July 21, 2010 at 01:26 PM

"I counted three in, yes, pink, although Ford called it "Dusky Rose". ... the seeming disjoint between our expectations of what a muscle car should look like and these soft pastel colors."

To be blunt, the whole Mustang line is considered to be Pony cars, meaning unique body shell, with different motor/trim options. Only the High Performance V8 models are classed as Muscle cars. So no, the pink base model Stangs are not 'muscle cars' at all.

The GTO was a true muscle car, since it was a mid-sized 2 door with a performance package. To sum up, not all RWD cars from the 60's are "muscle cars" as some casual car fans post online.

Ronnie Schreiber on July 22, 2010 at 12:41 PM

When considering Mustang colors, particularly the early ones, you have to remember that single young women were originally a major, perhaps the major, target market for the Mustang. They sold a lot of 6 cyl Mustangs to secretaries and dental hygienists.

"A sports car that you can buy on a secretary's salary."

Here's an early ad titled Six and the Single Girl
http://www.themustangsource.com/ads/64-66/66FOMU01.jpg

And more pitching the new Mustang to women:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnVk/SeeKE81y_cI/AAAAAAABr3Q/x6WedhuZueo/s400/67_MstangPledge02_HR.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnVk/SeeKEefsInI/AAAAAAABr3A/aZYbDa0C58E/s1600-h/66MstangSweatMar_HR.jpg

http://www.themustangsource.com/ads/64-66/64FOMU05.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnVk/SeeK9q4lGLI/AAAAAAABr4Q/MrAYU8yRPnU/s1600-h/1983_MustangYourStyle.jpg

Geoff Endresen on July 22, 2010 at 02:26 PM

I missed it because I was out of town. I'm looking forward to having my mustang painted in time for next summer.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2386543/11

comatus on July 22, 2010 at 08:09 PM

Does the "Mustang I" still exist? If so, was it there, and if not, why not?