Living in San Diego really spoils you with weather. The joke is that it is always sunny and 70 degrees. It’s not quite like that, but pretty close. At least 9 months out of the year are like that, the other 3 months are a combination of overcast, some rain, and sometimes dropping below 50 degrees. Being in San Diego for 5 years and enjoying that level of sunshine and summertime weather, it was time to scratch an automotive itch that I had since my teen years. It was time to spoil myself and get a convertible. My wish list for my convertible was short. Relatively new, V8, RWD and a manual transmission. In my budget, that meant either a Mustang or a Camaro. Since I had been driving Ford’s for the previous 10 years, it was pretty much a given I would be getting a Mustang. That Mustang turned out to be a 2001 Mustang GT convertible.
[First modification, new Mach 1 replica wheels.]
Even though I had already started my search for a Mustang, my partner James ended up getting his 2001 Bullitt Mustang (COAL) first. That meant having to sell his Excursion (COAL) before we could afford to get my convertible. While the Excursion was listed on Autotrader, I continued to search for my perfect Mustang. With all my research and dreaming, I would have been happy with either a True Blue, Oxford White, or Electric Green color. What I really wanted was Mineral Gray, a color available starting in 2001.
[The only flaw is visible here, that crease just before the rear wheel.]
After just a few weeks of looking, I located the exact 2001 Mustang GT I wanted with very low miles from a private seller. Mineral Gray exterior, Bullitt rims, Premium trim package, and a 5-speed manual transmission; all the boxes were ticked. I contacted the seller and set up a time to meet her for a test drive. When she pulled the car out of the garage, it was gorgeous. I knew this was my car. Dropped the top and we took her for a spin. She informed me that this was her fun car, only used on long trips and really nice days. It had low miles because most of her commuting was done in her ‘94 Festiva. We hit it off and talked in depth about why I wanted the car, why she was selling. I explained my predicament of having to sell the Excursion first. Without taking a deposit, she told me that she would hold the car for me until I was able to buy. She knew I would take good care of her baby, and she wanted me to have her.
[First set of stripes.]
I kept in touch once a week, and after about a month we finally made the deal. As I drove away from her house with the top down, I had “Mustang Sally” blaring from the stereo. It was a great day for me. We now had His & His Mustangs. The sound of that V8 with the top down was music to my ears. It wasn’t as loud as James’ Bullitt Mustang, but it was still there. The inside of the car was very familiar to me, after driving James’ Bullitt and being in Fords for so long. I loved the dual cockpit style interior, which was modeled after the original Mustang interiors. It was retro, without being overtly retro. The car drove very well, although it wasn’t as tight as the Bullitt was. There was some slight cowl shake. After reading about so many convertibles it was something I expected. Given how some of the reviewers talked about the Mustang and how old it was, I actually expected a lot more than it was. I would have considered the platform very rigid and nice, but I wasn’t driving BMWs back to back to compare. The gear changes weren’t what I would call light, but not out of line for a performance car.
As happy as I was to finally have a convertible, it wasn’t long before I started down the road to modifications. (I can’t even locate any photos I took of the car in it’s stock configuration.) A Mach 1 convertible is what I really wanted, but Ford only offered the Mach 1 on the hardtops. It was those retro touches of flat black stripes and the Shaker hood scoop that I wanted. Since Ford didn’t make one, I figured I would make my own (or something similar). First up was a set of 18” Mach 1 replica rims and B.F. Goodrich g-Force KDW2 tires (best tread pattern ever). The wheel pockets were painted, and the color was almost an exact match for the Mineral Gray exterior.
[1 1/2″ drop, Mach 1 spoiler and grille, Bullitt side-scoop deletes.]
While it would be awhile before I could do a full Mach 1 treatment, it still looked too plain and similar to all the other Mustangs out there. I ordered and installed (myself) a set of dual LeMans stripes and Mustang GT side stripes. On went a Mach 1 chin spoiler and a Mach-1 grille delete kit. On the sides, I replaced the prominent side scoops with the smooth side panels from a Bullitt Mustang. The springs were replaced with Ford Racing Performance 1” lowering springs. At the rear, I painted the panel between the taillights a semi-gloss black and topped it off by replacing the GT badge with a old-school styled V8 badge (this particular one came off an Explorer). To round out my mods, I installed a set of sequential taillights. Every Mustang should have sequential taillights.
[My very first car show.]
That was the end of what I considered “Phase 1”. During this time, I entered my first car shows. The first one was a Mustang car show put on by Saleen, which was located about 90 miles north in Orange County. My second show was a month later, the San Diego Mustang Club’s “Mustangs by the Bay” car show. This all took place soon after the new retro-styled 2005 Mustangs had come out, so this show was all about those cars. The 2005+ class outnumbered the 99-04 classes by about 3-to-1. My car didn’t place in either show, but I did have a blast talking with everyone about their cars as well as my own. I invited the original owner to the show in San Diego, and she loved seeing all the changes done to her baby.
One day I was fortunate enough to be browsing eBay when I ran across a Mustang Mach 1 hood for sale. The hood had been damaged and repaired, but not repainted. I was the winning bidder and the hood was shipped to me. The Mach 1 Mustangs all came with the DOHC 4.6L V8, shared with the 1999-2001 Mustang Cobra. All regular Mustang GTs had the SOHC engine. From being a member of several Mustang message boards, I knew of an adapter kit that would allow me to mount the 2003-2004 Mach 1 shaker scoop to the 2-valve engine in my car. That kit was produced by Kar Kraft, the same company that assembled the 429 Boss Mustangs in 1969 and 1970.
Since I knew the hood would need to be going to a body shop to be painted, I wanted to perform another modification I had been contemplating. I purchased the rear bumper from a 2003 Mustang Cobra (also from eBay). The shape of the bumper was different than that of the GT, convex vs. concave. Not wanting to be a poseur, I filled and smoothed the COBRA name embossed in the rear bumper. I took the car to a local body shop and had the hood and bumper painted. After a couple of weeks, I removed the rest of the white stripes. A flat black Mach 1 hood stripe was installed. Flat black Mach 1 style side stripes were installed, without the Mach 1 lettering. I installed a set of tri-bar Pony Mustang badges to replace the GT badges on the front fenders.
[Bullitt instrument cluster, DVD radio, interior trim painted to match the body.]
Now that the exterior was complete, I turned my attention to the interior. I installed a new touch screen DVD stereo system. With some of the left over paint from the body mods, I painted a few of the interior pieces. The center console and HVAC trim, climate control knobs, and the upper defroster vents were now color-matched to the exterior. Both the Bullitt and the Mach 1 had the retro font gauges, the only difference being the higher redline for the DOHC engines in the Mach 1. It took some searching, but finally located a Bullitt cluster and installed it. When I did that, I also installed a set of retro chrome rings around the gauge faces. I topped off the car with the custom plate “SHAKR GT”. Several months later I installed a full cat-back Borla exhaust system. I studied so many sound clips of exhaust systems before settling on the Borla system. It was a little bit more pricey, but I wanted that sound. This is what has started my love affair with Borla exhaust systems.
The modifications on my Mustang were subtle, but unique. I didn’t want a very flashy show car, but wanted something uniquely mine. Most people saw it as just another Mustang, but other Mustang owners knew that it was something different and special. Just what I wanted to create. I never saw another like it.
[Shaker scoop on engine, model car replicating my own.]
After getting the car where I wanted to visually, it was now time to flex some muscle. I decided to take my car to the track and see what I and the car could do. San Diego hosts an event at Qualcomm Stadium called Race Legal. It is designed to offer an inexpensive, local alternative to street racing. A ⅛ mile drag strip is set up on the west end of the parking lot. $25 entry fee, and you are able to run as many passes as you want. With the Mustang I finally felt like I had a car that was up to the task. What a rush it was! I was definitely hooked. Depending on the staging lanes, I would be randomly paired up against a variety of cars. Hopped up Hondas, stock Corvettes, diesel pickup trucks, hot rods, muscle cars. I was pitted against everything. It was more about racing my own time, but a lot of fun. I took the Mustang out to Race Legal about a half dozen times while I owned it.
[Custom smoothed ’03 Cobra rear bumper, Shaker GT license plate, Borla exhaust.]
Ever since I purchased the car, I had joined the Great Autos of Yesteryear car club. Soon after finishing the Shaker GT modifications, a call went out for convertibles needed to parade dignitaries for the San Diego Gay Pride parade. I jumped at the chance, and I could not have been paired up with a more perfect dignitary. The gal assigned to my car was the San Diego Volunteer of the year. This little retired lady strolls up to my car in 4” heels and a huge red feather boa, I knew we were going to have fun. While all the other convertibles just cruised along quietly, I made sure we were heard. As we crawled along the parade route, I was constantly revving the engine and making lots of noise with my car. She absolutely loved it, she kept pushing me to “make some noise!”
As I had with all my previous cars, I took care of all the regular maintenance myself. Working on the Mustang was really easy. Oil changes were taken care of every 5,000 miles. One day the car wouldn’t start. After a little troubleshooting, I traced it to the fuel filter. Located forward of the gas tank, it was still an easy piece to replace. The only maintenance item I did not perform was the clutch replacement. It is something that I could have done myself, but I decided I didn’t want to expend the effort. That was it, never had a problem with the Mustang.
When I purchased the car in early 2005, she only had about 25,000 miles on her (~6K miles per year). After 2 ½ years of ownership, I had driven her up to about 75K miles. Around this time, I started contemplating selling the Mustang to get another car. I had just received the 1977 Dodge Aspen “Party Wagon” from my parents, and my attention had turned to it as my project car. Gas prices in southern California were really starting to skyrocket. For a V8 convertible, the Mustang got decent gas mileage in the 20-22 mpg range (thanks to that manual trans). I thought I could do better. I started shopping around for a more sensible car, one that got better gas mileage and one I wouldn’t be tempted to modify. Then I could focus all my efforts on the Party Wagon. As with all my other car purchases as an adult, I determined what I wanted and then went out to find it.
After purchasing my “sensible” car, it was time to sell the Mustang and focus on the Party Wagon. My ex-girlfriend from high school had come to San Diego to visit, and she loved riding around in the Mustang. When she heard I was selling it, she followed in my footsteps and said it was time to spoil herself. She and her dad flew out to San Diego, and drove off taking the Mustang to Albuquerque. At this point, both of our Mustangs ended up in Albuquerque. She’s owned it since then, and I have even driven it a few times when visiting Albuquerque. Once she started a family, it was parked in the garage and rarely driven. She just recently sold it, and I was given the first opportunity to purchase it. Since I had already moved on from convertibles, I declined. I’m sure the new owner is enjoying the wind in their hair cruising around with the top down as much as we did.
Just great photos in this piece.
Thanks John. Cars and photography are my two biggest passions.
Nice example.
I seen 8 Stangs around my town, 59 miles north of London, all GTs. No ones buying the 4cyl. My guest its taken sales from Aston Martin as its a less than 1/2 price Vantage.
Its a plain jane next to previous models. Ford has made it more Euro for my tasts but yes its selling rely well ……
It’s been reported that Ford completely underestimated V8 demand in the UK. The V6 is not an option there.
The V8 is a part of the image of the Mustang. The swagger, the sound, the power… a Mustang without the V8 isn’t the same.
Great cars. Mustangs are among my favorites, and you did a great job with yours. My brother-in-law has a GT convertible of about the same vintage with the 5-speed. I drove it once on a side road – what a blast. Here in Ontario a Mustang convertible is strictly a nice-weather toy, but well worth keeping around for just that reason. My wife’s parents keep a ’94 GT convertible at their trailer in Florida, and they let us use it when we visit during the winter. I’ll take their old Mustang convertible (even though it’s an automatic) over a rental car any day.
Much of the problem with convertibles and winter is the snow buildup in the roof. If you can park it in a garage it should be good; the rest of winter shouldn’t be a problem. I’d still take a coupe over the convertible regardless.
We were just in San Diego a few weeks ago! Unfortunately, it was only for a day so we didn’t get a chance to explore, other than going out for dinner and then visiting La Jolla the next day to see the sea lions. I can definitely see the appeal of San Diego.
All of your modifications were tasteful. The New Edge facelift of this generation was a huge improvement. It made the car so much more chiselled and aggressive, whereas the ’94 was just so… 1990s.
My first destination on the west coast was SD, in 1976. Coming from Iowa, it was heavenly. And that winter, it never rained and was warm and sunny continously. I thought it was incredible; it turned out to be one of the worst drought years ever.
SD was a much smaller, laid-back, peacuful place back then. When I go back, I almost don’t recognize it. But the climate just can’t be beat; it’s the best in the whole country.
Agree with you on the New Edge facelift. When it first came out in 1999, it was a bit shocking to me. But it grew on me quickly and I really love the style of it.
Ditching the white stripes was a good move, black suits the dark silver much better. The rear fascia change and side scoop change are also a big improvements.
I would have kept the Bullitt rims but I really like the look of those.
The hood scoop is either your cup of tea or not.
All in all, a very nice car.
Uh-oh, the COAL bar has been raised now with professional photos, probably the best produced ones ever seen in a COAL!
Mineral gray is a fantastic color and your modifications are all excellent and really add to the car itself rather than drawing attention away from the car and toward the changes.
Very nice!
Thanks for the compliments on the photos. Photography is my other major passion/hobby, and combining it with cars is a blast. Hopefully the majority of the rest of my entries live up to the expectations that have been raised.
Very nice car indeed, and, as others have said, the photos are outstanding. I have owned several Mustangs through the years, convertibles and hardtops, GT’s and base models. I have enjoyed each and every one of them, with the exception of one 1995 base model V6 that I regretted buying within days of the purchase. Not that it was a terrible car but it replaced a GT convertible that I had driven for many years and it was quite a comedown in many ways. This car was quickly replaced with another GT convertible and life went on.
Now that my wife and I are retired and no longer have to get out in bad weather to go to work we decided to get another convertible. After looking at several “collector” cars we ended up buying a 2014 Mustang V6 convertible with the premium package. Thirty years ago I would have insisted upon the V8 but now that I have finally reached maturity the V6 is fine with me. I did make one performance upgrade, swapping out the stock 2.73 final drive with a steeper 3.55 set of gears. This makes driving much more pleasant as one doesn’t need as much throttle for acceleration. Surprisingly the gas mileage (not a concern if you only drive 5000 miles/year) doesn’t seem to be much different; highway mileage has dropped by maybe 1-2 MPG while in town driving seems to return about the same mileage as before. One thing we did notice on a long road trip back in the spring is that dropping the top on the highway costs you about 3-4 MPG, totally worth it for the open air experience. We are getting ready to go for a quick cruise today; it is about 60 degrees and sunny, good top down weather, especially with the heated seats.
I have to agree, the featured SN95 customized Mustang is very nice! Very tasteful upgrades indeed.
You had commented Joe about the 2014 Mustang V6 being satisfyingly, and yeah it really is. The red one in the picture is my Dad’s 2014 V6 with the Pony Package, and I got to borrow it while my own 2007 (the black V6) was in the shop having the transmission rebuilt after almost 9 years and 170K of the daily grind. I’ve since taken my Mustang out of daily driver status, but it still is incredibly pleasurable to drive (maybe even more so now that I don’t drive it every day). I hope to keep it for a long time.
On a business trip I was upgraded to a 2012 V6 Mustang convertible for a few days. It was a very nice ride, it was more powerful than the Shaker GT mustang that I had. Handled pretty decently. I could see owning a V6 stang, with the upgraded suspension from the GT model.
I would just really miss that sound… that V8 rumble.
His and His Mustangs – love it! That is one beautiful car – love the color, don’t remember seeing it that often. Thanks – a great story with a fortunate ending: two really happy hand-offs of a nice car to a grateful new owner. And SoCal weather is the best.
Buying someone else’s modded car is usually a bad idea, but I think the next owner of this Mustang as well as the previous Tempo had major scores. Great photos as always. I wish I had that much documentation of my old rides.
Thanks. Most of my mods were done very well, and almost always kept the mods to suspension and visual.
Since I had been involved with the internet from pretty much the time I started working on/modifying cars, documentation was always key. I was always sharing pics, stories, and how-tos online with the things I had done to my car. What you’ve seen with my Topaz, Tempo, Party Wagon, and now this Mustang just scratches the surface of all the photos I have stored away.
I must confess it’s shocking to realize it already has 15 years old…
You have very good taste, and express it impeccibly. Thanks for sharing them; each one has been an eye-opener. You’ve made me appreciate cars that normally are not so much on my radar.
I have to be honest, living in SoCal for half of my life, I gotta say that I’m not a fan of the weather. For the past three years here in San Diego, the summer months have been ungodly humid and sticky, and even now we had the kind of nasty humid days that were happening last October. I never encountered October days that gross and hot since I left D.C, and it was a slog to get through. So, I sort of chuckle at the “best weather ever” comments, because I know from first hand experience, that’s not always the case. Then again, my thick Hungarian blood hates heat in all its forms, so it could just be me and no one else.
I do have to say these photos are incredible, even though I’m not a fan of Mustangs, I have to admit, these photos make your car look really good. Dare I say, these photos look better than the ones CC’s own Joseph Dennis provides, and that’s saying something.
Thanks Joseph. Gonna have to watch specifically for Joseph’s photos. 😉
The weather has been different the last few years, much more humidity. My fall softball season runs through Sept and Oct, and it has been rough playing in high heat, high humidity days when we aren’t used to it.
Nice pics and nice story on the Mustang.
You were very wise to buy the Stang and not a 93-02 Camaro or Firebird. I swear nobody in GM’s design, engineering divisions or the higher ups must have spent any time in the 4th generation F body. This car was huge on the outside and had no room at all on the inside. By contrast my 1993 Ford Probe, my old 2012 Fiesta and every Miata I have sat in or driven had much more room in it for leg, hip and head room.
My dream was to own a 93-02 Firebird and in 2013 I finally got one. It was a 1999. It had 88,000(or so) miles on it. I kept it for 2 years and only put 5000 miles on it. It was such a pain in the @$$ to drive. Sure it was hella fast but is was such a pain to drive the thing for any more then 15 mins. I hated the $%#@ing seatbelt set up
I contemplated, very briefly, a post ’98 facelift Z28 convertible. I liked how they looked and they were more powerful than the Mustang. One test drive convinced me otherwise. They felt so much larger than the interior size suggested, and the driving position felt like I was riding in a low slung bathtub. Didn’t like it at all.
A Mustang GT convertible has always been on my “short list” whenever I have been in a car mood. You will understand the excitement and then the letdown every time the word “automatic” crops up in the ad. Yours was very nice. I’m not normally a modification kind of guy, but yours were very nicely done.
I have visited San Diego a few times, and could see where it would be ideal convertible-land.
Nice pics of a tastefully done car.
I came close to buying a convertible of this generation but chose an 03 V6 Coupe. Its been a great Mustang to enjoy all year round. I’m going to sell the coupe as I have other plans for next year once the snow melts.
I’ve still got my ’96 GT convertible. I bought it five years ago with 150.000 miles on it and have added another 50,000 miles to that. I’ve taken it on a lot of road trips. Kind of cramped and rough riding but a great freeway and back road cruiser. I like the softer rounded fender styling and the dual cockpit interior. Mine has the tweed sports seats which are really comfortable. The first versions of the SOHC 4.6 are kind of despised as weak sisters by hardcore Mustang fans, but so what. Mine cruises smoothly at 85 mph. and will return 25 mpg. on regular gas, when I keep it at 70 mph. It’s a scrappy little fun to drive car.
Nice addition to your COAL series. You have an eye towards tasteful modification.
Interesting to see the car’s evolution Brian. The ‘new’ shaker scoops made it downunder for the return of the Falcon GT, but I don’t think I’ve seen one that I like – they are usually mounted too far forward not centralized as they would be on a 4-bbl carb, placing them ahead of the axle line which just looks wrong.
The original for comparison.
I just thought of an interesting story – a guy I knew had a 1982 Falcon with a 302 Cleveland and wanted a shaker. He took the car a guy who had installed a heap of them, and watched as he marked and cut the hole in his bonnet/hood, installed the trim and then replaced the air cleaner with the shaker one.
Of course at this point the hood was open, so the guy says “let’s see if I put the hole in the right place”, and just drops the hood! My friend said he almost had a heart attack during the second or two as he waited to see if the hood was going to hit the shaker, but it closed cleanly with an even gap around the shaker. No test fit necessary apparently.
I suspect it’s been done like this on modern cars for practical reasons, the steeply raked windshields cut far into what used to be a long cowl/hood, so in order to fit the shaker on the center of the engine it would likely protrude at the very back edge of the hood or even partially through the cowl.
The Mach 1 look works really well on the convertible–definitely an excellent example of personalizing the car while showing enough restraint to keep it classy. The final product looked great, and it’s cool that you got to “visit” the car a few times after selling it and make sure that it was well cared for. Hopefully the current owner keeps up the trend!