1968 Ford Mustang Notchback
OWNER: Jeff and Sarah Thomasen, PUBLISHED: March 2016
A MODEL AMERICAN
MAKE: Ford
MODEL: Mustang notchback
YEAR: 1968
ENGINE: 289cc Windsor V8
OWNER: Jeff and Sarah Thomasen
OWNED: 2010
If you’re a bit of a petrolhead, then you would no doubt know that Ford’s new Mustang has landed in Australia.
Not that you’ll be able to get your hands on one for a while. The new Mustang – available with either a 5-litre V8 or a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine – has hit the sweet spot with Ford fans, and when the first shipment arrived in December 2015, the company announced that dealers had received 4000 pre-orders and that the stock for 2016 had sold out.
There is certainly something about the Mustang that gives it universal appeal. And the numbers back that up – in its various incarnations, the Mustang has been in production continuously for 50 years and more than 9 million of them have been sold.
And it’s not hard to see why the car has proven so popular. Barring some unfortunate design efforts of the late 80s and early 90s, the Mustang has always looked tremendous, has always been powerful, has always sounded just right. And who wouldn’t want to own a car that is so inextricably linked to the Bullitt-era Steve McQueen – a time when he was the coolest man on the planet.
Bullitt, the movie, was released in 1968, the same year that this wonderful Mustang was built.
The Ivory Gold notchback has been owned by Jeff and Sarah Thomasen since they married. It was originally imported to New Zealand from California by Sarah and her first husband before being brought to Australia. Extensive restoration was done in New Zealand including upholstery, an engine refresh and a bare metal (enamel) paint job.
Jeff, a mechanic and Owner of JR Automotive in Cairns – an across the board service workshop operating for more than twenty years – says the Mustang has always been in pretty good shape, though he has rebuilt the suspension and overhauled the brakes to bring it back into tip-top condition.
“The engine – the original 289 Windsor – was leaking a bit of oil and blowing a bit of smoke on start-up so I have refreshed that. The original carburettor was pretty shot so
I have installed a different manifold and carburetor as well.
“We have kept it as original as we can – it’s a classic and deserves to remain in the era that it is. All original parts have been kept as we are actually in the process of selling the vehicle and a buyer may wish to have them.”
An enthusiast of classic cars – his first car was a Ford 10, an E94A – Jeff has a soft spot for Ford and the Mustang.
“Mustangs do have quite a bit of appeal about them. I am an American muscle car fan and do love the older cars. To me the Mustang is a pretty cool looking car.
“But I am interested in all classic cars – I am a mechanic, after all!
“And it’s lovely to maintain an older car. They’re easier to work on because you can actually get at the things! We’ve had some special old classics to repair at the workshop over the years. They are always a talking point and customers love to see a classic being maintained.
“It’s really quite enjoyable to have a weekend off and just work on the Mustang.”
The couple are members of the Far North Queensland Ford Club and though they do take the Mustang out for club runs, they are selective as to the time of year they do it.
And for good reason.
“We get away on club runs when we can,” says Jeff.
“But the car is not air-conditioned and we have a fairly hot climate up here so we have tended to wait until it is winter to do them!”
Though the car may not be their daily driver, or be out on the roads as often as they might like, thanks to the couple’s efforts in keeping the Mustang in good condition,
it has plenty of admirers.
Be it at a car show, the occasional cruise of the streets of Cairns, or being used as a wedding car at Jeff and Sarah’s nuptials, the Mustang is a real head-turner.
“We have shown it in competition at a car shows and it has done well,” says Jeff. “We picked up an overall first place at the Innot Hot Springs Car and Bike Show a couple of years ago. They’re old school up there and they loved the Mustang.
“The car has been used for many weddings and formal functions over the years and always looks good ‘on show’.
“We do get a lot of interest when we take the car out for a drive. People wave and flash their lights. There are all sorts of people around who are interested in cars and come and take a look at it.”
The Mustang is now up for sale, and there will, no doubt, be plenty of interest in it – there are a lot of Mustang fans around. With luck, the 48-year-old classic will end up in the hands of admirers like Jeff and Sarah. And if it does, then it should still be turning heads for another few decades.
