The Smallest Minority

I Feel Better Now

Almost a year ago I sold my ’67 Mustang. I’d had it almost eleven years, and it had been sitting, collecting dust in my garage for the last five of those years. It was time to pass it on to someone who would run her and enjoy her. I was too worried about wrecking her, or some other disaster to really enjoy her.

But I love Mustangs. My first one was a 1988 LX 5.0 that I bought in ’88 with about 5,000 miles on the clock – a repo, I’m pretty sure. I drove it until 1999 when I traded it in, with about 130,000 miles on it, for a brand-new Ford Ranger pickup. But I already had the ’67 in the garage.

So, in the midst of my mid-life crisis, I decided I needed another Mustang. I searched for a couple of months on eBay, Craigslist and local auto-trader magazines, and didn’t come up with much. For one thing, Kelly Blue Book goes out the window on Mustangs. Either that, or people are freaking crazy when it comes to what they think their pony is worth.

But I found a 1989 GT just South of town in fair shape, 193k miles, still runs pretty strong, though it needs a lot of work. It’s going to be my project car for the next four or five years. I’ll try to post some pictures tomorrow – it’s black, and I didn’t get it home until almost dusk. It looks pretty good from 20 feet away, but it’s definitely a car that’s seen almost 200,000 miles. Plus it got a Maaco paint job a couple of years ago, and it’s not the best. It needs lots and lots of little things, and a few big ones, but that’s half the fun.

Damn, it feels good to have a Mustang again.