Lee's Mustang History

	My father saw the advertisement and went to the local Ford dealer in SE Missouri and bought a 1964 1/2 Coupe. Beautiful Bronze color. So genetics is partially involved. He was a race car driver/mechanic/teacher prior to his marriage and the birth of his two children. He knew what a fine car was and immediately spotted excellence in the new Mustangs put out by Ford. He gave up his racing at the request of my mother, but his heart still craved the sporty look and power which lead him and inevitably me into the Mustang addiction.
	Left is a picture of what she looked like, though this is not the actual car. My mother is currently searching the archives for any pictures, but regrettably we came from humble backgrounds and in the early 60's a camera was a luxury my parents did not have.
	Suddenly, my parents found they were due to have a second child, of course, me. Though they loved their 64 1/2, they were thinking of more room. Actually dad was probably thinking of more horsepower as he was a retired race car driver. Retired merely for my mother's worried benefit. So alas, in December of 1967 I was born and father found himself looking at new brochures. Ah, and mere hours after my birth, I was led home held in the arms of my mother, and got my first ride in a Mustang. In that day and age, nobody had the forethought to develop a child seat yet, so I got to sit shotgun in her arms and experience the Mustang experience. Part genetics, part my first visual recollections of the real outside world, the love had been born. She was called bronze but seemed closer to Gold, though not Lime Gold......yet.

Part II - The 1968 GT 302 High Performance 4 Speed Fastback
Lime Gold Damnit

	So, in February I believe, of 1968 dad special ordered his 1968 Mustang with all the extra perks. Well almost. He got the extra headrests, 4 speed and GT option package, but somehow wouldn't pop for the in dash clock. Much to my later chagrin. Apparently this was fate common with many mustang orders back then. Either the clocks were notoriously unreliable, or people that grew up during WWII were more thrifty. At any rate, he informed me that he had a wristwatch and didn't need the dash clock to tell him the same thing.

Here is the proud owner of the 1968 Mustang taking his family to the playground.
	My father was so meticulous with this vehicle we usually had our feet resting on newspapers, which were on top of floor mats, on the carpet. But anyway, I digress. The vehicle later on was basically mine from age 16. He let me drive it as he had other toys and eventually gave it to me officially. I loved it and still do. My friends would call it green or pea green, and I'd defend it by yelling out "Lime Gold Damnit!"
My friend Brad had a 67 fastback in High School and we would spend many hours just cruising together. Regretfully my hard drive crashed that housed most my pictures.
	Of course I was young and naive. I didn't treat the baby quite as nice as my father. Though he would take it up to 120 mph on just about every road trip when I was younger, he was emphatic that it shouldn't be raced. I didn't listen and raced it at the High School Drags. It was a sad day as I sat in my friends truck bed watching other races in between turns and heard my car start. And my dad was in it, driving off. He confiscated the Lime beauty for a few months to teach me a lesson. But eventually I got it back.

In recent years I'd fallen into a state of sadness regarding my GT. It still ran great but didn't look so good. I missed the old stead but she was left in the garage nearly year around because she needed so many repairs. I'd taken her to get inspected and the idiots at the service station for some reason thought lug nuts were optionally tightened down. They gave me the keys and I drove off. My rear wheel went in the opposite direction and crushed the rear fender. To that point, she had no rust or other real issues. Just was faded bad. This was around 1993. From this point on I drove her only a few miles a year.
	In November of 2004 I had decided to go purchase a new vehicle. I'd heard hints about the new mustangs but hadn't seen one yet. The lime gold flames of passion had long since subsided, and I didn't read the magazines and such. I was unfaithful. I had decided that I would go to the Ford dealer and purchase a new panel van. I needed something to haul my drums around for various "gigs". As I pulled into the Ford lot the first thing I laid my eyes upon was a 2005 V6 Mustang that was Lime Gold Damnit! Of course they had renamed it Legend Lime, but the color was the same. The flames ignited and I could feel the energy tingle up my spine and into every limb of my body. I pulled over, got out and approached the beauty. A test ride followed and I was much in love again. Twenty years shed from my body as I was engulfed in the Lime Gold fountain of youth. This car was a mere V6 automatic and yet the thrill was there.
I exited the test drive and set the wheels in motion. I went and purchased a trailer for my nearly forgotten drums and ordered the 2005 Legend Lime GT with 5-Speed and all the fixin's. Ford spared me the option and gave me a clock free. It took nearly six months in all before she reached me, but she's here now. In the 21 years I had the 1968 mustang as my car, (37 years in the family) I was never allowed to modify it one tiny bit from stock. Even after it was officially mine, my father would just shiver if I thought of doing anything. So it sat stock. But this new baby was all mine. I ordered her in part, as a bit of a surprise for my father, but regrettably cancer took him mere weeks before its delivery. But in his honor, and in the spirit of the 1968, I began to modify the new girl to match her older sibling in the bay next to hers.
	First things first. Though the GT fender emblems are well designed, they just didn't "pop" on the Legend Lime Color. So I ordered a new set of 1968 GT fender emblems to set in place. Of course, I retained all the original factory items as I went. Next I ordered side window louvers and had them painted. It just didn't look quite the same without them. Note the drum trailer in the background.....
Then there was the matter of the tail lights. Something just didn't look right. So of course they had to return to a semblance of the elder's look. The addition of the chrome really made them "pop". Though I'm hopeful that a one piece unit will be made later on. The items I added are merely chrome trim, so each tail light has three separate pieces and visible seams if you get close enough. But most people won't notice for now.
My most recent mod is still under construction. I'm making sure that I get the black center area polished and shiny. So I'm doing this slowly and as best as possible. The end product will look like the tag on the right and will hopefully be completed soon. I've blacked out a purchased GT rear emblem (again keeping all original items intact) and placed a 1968 pop open gas cap emblem in it's place. The red on black really "pop's".
And just so the old girl doesn't get too jealous, I'm in the process of restoring her. She currently has all new interior sitting in my basement awaiting the finish of her interior paint job. She is getting sanded inside on all surfaces and repainted. Then hopefully I'll save enough money for the exterior by the end of Summer.

But for now, they both must bathe together to share water.