1968 Mustang GT/CS California Special

J-Code 302 4v with Edelbrock Performer Carb and intake
3.00:1 rearend
Original 3-speed with Hurst Mastershift shifter
Acapulco Blue Exterior and Black interior
"GT" Argent wheels and dual exhaust

I fell in love with mustangs when I was about seven or eight years old.  My dad bought me a little yellow mustang diecast car.  I loved it.  When I turned sixteen, we went searching for a car, but we both knew that a classic mustang was out of the question due to some hard times we were having financially, but he never let me give up on that dream.  After he passed away unexpectedly two years ago, my mom told me to just go after the car because Dad would have wanted that.  So, I purchased a newer s197 stang and the fastback.  After close to a year, I moved up to a GT and this '68.  I think about him everytime I fire it up.  

One of the 3,867 California specials (another 251 were high country specials which equals 4,118 cars).  I recently purchased this car from another GT/CS owner.  You could get any engine, tranny combo in these cars.  The rarest are the 428's.  I was fascinated by these cars when I discovered one on ebay around a year ago.  My fastback project fell through, so I purchased an unmolested mostly original GT/CS.  The funny thing is, the only accurate information I find on these cars is located at www.californiaspecial.com.  They have a following like no other and I will never get rid of it.  It's a very rare coupe that has the shelby look without the atrocious Shelby price.  I'm doing mechanical restoration on it and I will do the engine bay and clean up the original 302 with some elbow grease and new paint.

Why were the other 251 HCS you ask?  Well, with sales slowing, Ford took fully assembled GT/CS cars without the emblem and stripes and shipped them off to the Colorado region dealers.  They had been selling HCS cars since 1966, but until 1968, they didn't look much different from regular offerings.  The HCS shield emblem was put in place of the "GT/CS" on the side vents and they were sold there.

I would like to see more information put out in Mustang mags about these wonderful coupes.  Since they were based off of "Little Red," Shelby's only officially made coupe and recent blueprints and paperwork found put them right beside the '68 shelby cars in Assembly and design.  Even signatures from shelby's designer were found on GT/CS paperwork!  Let's get more ACCURATE information out there.  Paul Newitt is the registrar for the GT/CS cars and is in the process of compiling all the information for his next GT/CS book, the first one in over a decade!  The official registry, interviews, and full history for all (including 07 and 08 cars) GT/CS cars will be included.  Also, official blueprints with signatures will most likely be included and a DVD.  Purchase of these books are not limited to GT/CS owners.  It will be a top knotch quality book and each will be individually numbered.  Visit www.californiaspecial.com for more details.  Paul almost sold his GT/CS that he has owned for over 400k miles to fund this!  That is how much he cares.