Minneapolis Street Sighting: Ford Mustang convertible

In the beginning of the 1960s, the idea of an affordable sporty car was mostly a foreign concept, with exceptions made by the Chevrolet Corvette, as well as the AC/Shelby Cobra-- scratch that. Those aren't really what I would call "affordable", and those two certainly weren't practical vehicles by any means.

Whether you are a Mopar nut, a GM guy, or a died-in-the-wool Ford fan, you can agree that 1964 was quite a big year for the automotive landscape in the US; that year marked the launch of three very successful (but very different) performance-oriented vehicles.  On April 17 of that year, Ford launched a vehicle that has not missed a single beat-- the same cannot be said of its current (and longtime) rival, Chevrolet's Camaro.

After going through it's ups and downs, the iconic ponycar is going to be redesigned this upcoming spring to celebrate its 50th birthday; something that cannot be said of its Mopar rivals, nor can be said of its Chevrolet rival either.

I was going to walk readers through a brief history of the Mustang, but I realized that would take quite a while, so I didn't bother.  Instead of shooting a nicer, popularly equipped model, or a model up in ranks like a GT or even a Boss 351 or 429, I chose to spotlight a lower-end Mustang that everyone can enjoy (and also afford.)

At first sight, this particular looked well-looked-after, and it was; no obvious rust or bondo, and no real sign of any sort of damage. Good. As I made my way around the car, my previous assumptions were correct. The paint looked immaculate, but was far from show-quality. Minor ripples and orange peel let me know this Mustang has been repainted at least once-- but the color is a fairly pretty color so I'm not complaining.

The hubcaps were a factory item, too, so no real complaints on that front either, though I would've preferred sportier rolling stock; then again, hubcaps provide appeal to older people--those same people are customers of the new car, too, so I guess hubcaps weren't a bad idea.  I could, however, do without the white-line tires; they just scream "geezer alert", as does the luggage rack festooned to the trunklid.

Inside, this example was clean as a whistle, though I'd be hard-pressed to identify what was stock and what wasn't. I can't really say much in that regard save for that it looked like a well-dressed interior, with the automatic, this pony was ready for cruising on a nice day, as opposed to lighting up a Christmas-tree at the local quarter-mile track.

I was glad I shot this car. Why? Even though first-generation Mustangs are extremely cliche cars by now--especially on the West coast where cars don't rust, I rarely see them outside of dealerships here; I'll take any example I can shoot, even if its a base-model destined to be a subject of Wheeler Dealers.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Mercury Cougar

This one is from the archives; I realize the pictures aren't quite up to par with what I shoot now. The car, on the other hand... I have always had a thing for first generation Cougars. While not quite as popular as Mustangs, I think the Cougars tended to look better with the right colors and options. Originally conceived as a Mustang-twin from the outset, the Cougar shifted towards luxury status and eventually moved to the Thunderbird bodystyle in 1971, where it stayed until it was discontinued in 1997.In 2002, the nameplate returned on a European flavored sport compact as a replacement for the Ford Probe; unlike the Mustang/Thunderbird twin, the sport compact didn't sell very well and was dropped after three model years.
I shot this example in a part of town I frequent quite a bit; I have a friend that lives in this area, so in the summer, I ride through quite a bit. Despite shooting this car about three years ago, I have never seen it before or since. I'm curious to what's happened to it, because as far as I know, it hasn't shown up in U-Pull-It's inventory, Maybe it was restored, or maybe it's just been in storage? Who knows?
This car looked pretty good on the outside; yes, the paint is a bit iffy, but all the trim and badges are there, and in decently good nick. While I question the black trunk and taillight filler panels, rust probably ate away at the original or perhaps it was in an accident early on. Normally I favor stock wheels on classic cars, but damn if these mags don't look badass. I love how this example sits; I wouldn't change a thing. Only thing I would maybe do (and that's a very strong maybe) is add a side exhaust and a rake to complete that "modded in 1977" look. Then, I'd most definitely rock it. Even as it is, I'd rock it. Gimme an empty parking lot, and I'll show you some 'Driver' esque moves.