Mustangs and other Fords for Mr. O

Ford F150 King Cab V8

Ford F150 4x4 Double Cab V8

 My obsession with Fords was born in 1949 when my Grandpa bought a brand new 1949 Ford Fordor Custom in Black with brown leather upholstery. It was his pride and joy and I learned to really love that car. A memorable trip to Mossel Bay, George and Knysna when I was 6 years old cemented that relationship.

On the Farm we had a 1950 blue Ford F 100 truck with a side-valve V8 and three speed manual transmission which could spin in third gear! I loved that truck and dad used to give us great rides in the back to town and to Stickland to collect meat for the staff. We loved to ride in the back. Of course that is now prohibited. Well I am still around!

Dad and mom had friends, Bill and Nancy Stewart who lived nearby. Often Bill, who was the Sales manager for Grosvenor Ford in the city of Cape Town in Bree street, used to drop in at the farm for a drink on his way home from work. We all lived in Durbanville. He would bring Fords from work and that is where I drove for the first time, well steered at the age of 8! My favourite was the 1957 Ford 500. It was blue, of course, with a white top. I loved it. Another neighbour had a Blue 1950 Mercury which I also admired. My great uncle
Andy had a Dark blue 1949 Lincoln.

ord F 250 Double Cab 4x4 V8 Turbo Diesel

Ford Explorer.

 My Gran had a Metallic Grey Consul and then a Tomato red and white Taunus 17M and Dad had a Thames 800 bus which was a cream colour. Uncle Pietie Olivier had a maroon and beige 1954 Ford Custom. So Fords were a part of my heritage.

My first car was the Taunus 17m which I sprayed blue as soon as I could. I then had a few VW Beetles and in November 1975 with the money from my first painting exhibition and help from mom, I bought a new Ford Big 6, a Turqiose blue one. That was followed in 1980 by a Springbok Green Ford Cortina Bakkie (Ute/pickup truck). The next three were the new front-wheel-drive Escourts - white, Champagne and white followed by a yellow Big 6 Bakkie and another yellow Escourt and finally my magic Ford Sierra 3 Litre Station Wagon. On my return from the USA I had a VW Golf GTI and a Mercedes S Class before my present day 2004 Fiesta became my new toy. And it is Blue like Denim Blue!

Is that the end of it? No, definitely not. I had a quest. When I first drove in Grandpa's '49 Ford, I though 'One day I will have this car.' It did not turn out that way as it was sold when he could no longer drive and written off shortly thereafter. Bang

Ford 'X' car, a station wagon.

went the idea of it being mine.

Through the many years that followed after Grade 12, I often thought I would have one 'one day'! When I was in the USA 1996/7 and working there, I often looked in the classic car ads and never found one. On return to SA, the thought remained in my mind. 'One day'.

4 and a half years ago I got to the point where I decided now or never. I placed an ad in CAR magazine and on the day it appeared on the shelves, Donald Crampton from Pinetown called and I had the hull of a '49 for R3000! It cost a further R10 000 to get it to Cape Town. Then came
the task of finding  someone who could do the body

Shelby 500 Mustang

as there were a number of rust spots.

Mustang GT V8

 Ed Backhouse, a well known Brass Instrument player and restorer, is also a C,assic car buff and he fixes/restores Classic cars. He did the bodywork. A long-time friend of mine, Karl Ebel, who I met when he was in Grade 9, owns Custom Carconversions in Killarney Gardens in Cape Town and he has got the car on the road, although the body is still unfinished. My Performance Blue 1949 Street Rod runs!

Mustang 302

Ford Fusion

Ford EDGE SUV

Mustangs for Africa for William Tesner the Mustang nut.

 With no doors, no glass, no hood, no trunk, but Jaguar XJ front suspension and steering, a brand new custom built Ford Windsor V8, BMW 5 series disc brakes all around, coil-over shocks and sway bars, was seen thundering down Killarney drive one morning recently with Karl at the wheel. I have my '49 Ford, or most of it anyway. So that car will become my other drive when I am back and it is all done. The colour is like the Mustang and Focus in this blog - Ford Performance Blue. What else too.

Shelby rear end. Awesome!

Menacing view of a GT.

Ford Taurus

Rear view of the Taurus

 One of the two Fords that I would love to have are the Ford GT and a Mustang. In fact all the Mustang models will do me fine! I have loved them since 1964 and a half, when they were announced, exactly 50 years ago this month. My very good friend, William Tesner has three and wants more! I have none and I want one. So here are a bunch of them for William, myself and every other Mustang lover. When in California I will no doubt shoot a lot more of them. They are gorgeous cars and I love them. Classic and contemporary cars that feel like freedom and they are just awesome.

F150 RAPTOR. Awesome power!

F150 Raptor in Black.

 So now for all the new Fords. I really like them all. They are beautifully designed, in today's everyday car range. The design is clean and tidy and neat and all of them handle better than their 'same price' contemporaries. From the Figo at home to Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo (yes they are still made), Fusion, Taurus, Flex, Mustang, Escape, Edge, Explorer, Expedition, Excursion, F150/250/350 and the huge trucks as well as the Transit vans from the little one in Europe and the USA to the standard ones, like in South Africa, that are seen across the globe, the best selling commercial vehicle around.

Ford Focus in Performance Blue.

Finally, for now, the Ford Expedition.

Add to this the Lincolns, Fords upper market vehicles, which are not pictured here, and you have a full range of cars, trucks and tractors as well as farming equipment. Lincolns are very classy and rival the GM Cadillac in status. DC is full of Lincolns and at any US airport you will see dozens of the Lincoln Town Cars waiting in long rows to drive people into the cities of the USA. Long, low, powerful and very comfortable and very quiet inside and out. Many are also made into 'stretch' limo's that carry the rich and famous and many brides to their weddings and Grade 12's to their graduation formal dances.

I love my Fords, and here I can revel in it because they are the top selling medium sized car in the world for 2013 - Focus. The top selling truck in the world - F150 and they sold more cars than Toyota in 2013 2.2 million as to 1.8 million. Ford also did not get a 'bailout' from the US government when GM and Chrysler went belly up and had to use taxpayers money to survive.

Mustangs, Fiesta and the F150's won the day. The sale of Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo as well as their 20% share in Mazda in early 2008 before the crash was fortuitous as The CEO thought at the time that it was a good idea to consolidate Ford as a world car. It has worked and now the new 2015 Mustang is going to be available with right-hand-drive for the other half of the world market, so we will have them in South Africa too. Yay! Maybe I can have one after all. Yeah right! I need to win the Lotto for that still as they will not come cheap! One can dream and look and slaver and love them and drive someone else's sometime.

When in California next month, I hope to see some of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the ubiquitous Mustang at some of the gatherings. I look forward to that. Meanwhile, I will see the Keselowski Mustang at the race in Bristol. Magic. I love my Fords. Smile!