Today we have a guest post by club member Norma Arsenault telling the story behind her car. My 1968 Mustang Coupe is not just any car. It represents a journey, forges friendships, and is a dream come true for me. I have wanted a Ford Mustang since I was five years old in 1970. My dream car was a red, 1965 Mustang convertible. My very first car was a 1983 Mustang LX in red. I was 22 years old, but what's unique is that I didn't even have a driver's license! It was bought from a co-worker. It was even my home for six months while my husband (at that time) and I were separated. After reconciling, I let him trade it for a Ford Probe Turbo GT. I continued my Ford allegiance over the years. For my 45th birthday, I decided that I had to have a Mustang. My boyfriend, Paul, and I were always cruising the countryside in his 1967 Chevy Caprice looking for a Mustang for me. Every prospect was taken to Mark Gomez, a friend of ours and the owner of Green Mountain Classics (GMC) for review. I’d get the thumbs up or down. The first time I saw my current dream car (1968 Mustang Coupe) was at Mike’s Auto Repair in Westmoreland NH. It was 1989 and it had just gotten a new paint job – royal maroon in acrylic enamel, boy was it beautiful! Since it was parked in front of the shop, I’d make “excuses” to drive by to see it.
couldn’t get to it. I knew it was the same Mustang that I drove to Westmoreland just to look at. In June 2012, Paul and I took a red 1965 Ford Mustang to GMC for Mark to look at. He said, “You don’t want this Mustang it is full of bondo and needs too much work”. Mark knew I was on a tight budget and didn’t have the money to put into that red Mustang. He said, “I’ve got a car for you”. I said “really?” He replied, “Yes, I have a maroon Mustang in the barn, and the people that stored it want to sell it”. I couldn’t believe it! On August 31st, 2012, I signed papers for it and in September I took my belated birthday present home. I only drove it for 2 months that first year because I store it for the winter and I’ve been driving it ever since (except winters of course). I drive it everywhere. Paul and I have driven it to North Carolina 4 times including Mustang’s 50th Anniversary, we’ve driven it to Michigan for the Woodward Dream Cruise & Mustang Memories car show put on by MOCSEM at Ford Headquarters for 3 years in a row. We have driven it to Pennsylvania and New York. Paul and I will get in our classic’s and just drive, no place in mind… we just drive and when it’s time to go home we find our way by setting the GPS to “home”. Our local car club is the Now and Then Car Club which holds a cruise - every Saturday from May through October. Last year I was voted in as Club Secretary. I also belong to the Mustang Owners Club of South Eastern Michigan a.k.a. MOCSEM. At one of our local area cruises, a friend’s daughter eyed my car and said, “I know that car and who used to own it”. She introduced me to Chris Wilder who was the previous owner before the person who stored it in Mark’s barn. Chris was shocked that it had been sold, you see when he sold it, he had a First right of refusal written in as part of the deal, which means if they were going to sell it they had to offer it back to Chris first before anyone else, but he was very happy to know someone loved it as much as he did owned it. You see it was his very first car, but he had to sell it because he was going through a divorce and did not want the “soon to be ex” to get it. He shared an interesting piece of its history with me. When Chris owned the car, it was
The ride was comfortable which was pertinent since I’ve had 6 back surgeries. It takes about 12-14 hours to go from Vermont to North Carolina. At the North Carolina Welcome Centre, in a parking lot full of Mustangs, we met Chris Bolla and Chris Richardson from Michigan who were working on their friend’s (Pete & Sara Vistakos) 1964 ½ Mustang, which blew the right front wheel bearing. After offering to help, we exchanged phone numbers and subsequently met up at Mustang’s 50th.
We did all of the activities with the Chris-es from Michigan that trip. A deep friendship evolved, and they told us about the Woodward Dream Cruise in Ferndale, Michigan which is held every August. They said we should go - so we went that year (2014) and every year since, always meeting up with the Chris-es! That very first year that we went to Michigan was the best, because it was a celebration of Mustang's 50th Birthday everywhere we went. We also went to what was called the” HEROES” Banquet. There we hundreds of people there, all Mustang people! They had a full size cake for every year the mustang was made. I got to meet a lot of people that had their hand in the making & designing of all of the different mustangs, including the 50th Anniversary Mustang.
Another part of the Mustang's 50th celebration was a “50th Birthday Registry” book where you could display a photo of your Mustang with your name and location. It would cement your Mustang and your Name in Mustang History. Me being the proud new owner of a Mustang, I just “had” to register and pay whatever it cost to be in that book! When my book finally came in the mail, I was on the phone with Chris Bolla and found my name on page 37 – but it wasn’t my car! It was my dream car, because it was a beautiful 1965 blue (not red) convertible Mustang. Chris and I both looked through the whole book cover to cover but could not find my ’68 royal maroon coupe anywhere. I was devastated. I started crying. Chris tried to calm me down over the phone. Eventually I stopped crying and became very angry. Chris knew people in the Mustang industry and he said he would make some phone calls. On February 12th, 2016, I received a letter post marked New Zealand. I was going to just toss it in the trash because I didn’t know anyone from New Zealand, but I said to myself maybe it was one of the many people I met at Mustang's 50th . Sure enough it was from someone that went to Mustangs 50th celebration. But not the one in Charlotte, this person went to the one in Las Vegas. As I read the letter, I realized it was the owner of the Mustang that was attached to my name in the 50th Birthday Registry II book! His name was Rae Simpson, and he was looking for me… the lady whose name was in the book with his car! His car also appeared on page 169 with the correct car and name. In the letter he said he informed the powers that arranged the book about the mistake. He said he never heard back from them. Rae said he would love to hear from me and gave his e-mail. I felt such a warmth and connection with this man who tracked me down from across the world. We exchanged letters and emails. We’ve exchanged many gifts from Vermont maple syrup, a Vermont calendar, to the Taranaki Mustang Club Newsletter, a club vest and various Mustang key chains, and a New Zealand calendar. I also informed him that I received a second 50th Birthday Registry II book with my car and my name on page 37! I believe if it wasn’t for Rae informing the powers that published the book, I never would have received a corrected book which I can pass down to my granddaughter along with all of my Mustang 50th Birthday celebration memorabilia. I have saved every e-mail from Rae and I hope to meet him one day whether it be in New Zealand or when/if he and his wife, Norma, come to the United States. A bit of kismet surrounds my car too:
On June 3rd, 2018 MY Mustang turned 50! In August, I celebrated not only having my Mustang for 6 years, but I also celebrated the many adventures I have had with her and the amazing friendships with kindred spirits who share a common love of not only Mustangs but all classic cars. I look forward to driving her again to Michigan for the Woodward dream cruise and Mustang Memories car show.
1 Comment
Peter Rich
6/4/2023 08:59:54 pm
Hi Norma, I hope you don't throw this email away - as you nearly did with my great friend Rae Simpson's letter, a fellow foundation member of the Taranaki Mustang Club! I recently retired, and have been going through my (?) almost complete set of club magazines, but found, yesterday, your excellent article on your Mustang journey, in the #122 issue which had been filed in error and not read.! Very, very, interesting.... I have had a '74 Mach 1, from when I worked in Dearborn as a Resident doctor in training to be a GP, then a '73 Mach 1, added an original '68 302 4V which did many trips down the drag strip, then '87 GTHO which I bought from Rae, and then bought his '66 hardtop - both those cars were in excellent condition. I'm now down to only a '07 Saleen Parnelli Jones # 162 of 500. You will know Rae has met Bill Ford at World HQ.. In 1981 6 of our club were to meet Lee Iacocca at Chrysler HQ but he had to urgently see the USA President to get more funds to bail out his Co.. I have his letter of apology in my files. I later wrote to him to become our Patron. We have framed the letter and acceptance. My wife and I crossed paths, amazingly, with you at both Woodward Drive and Mustang Memories in '14 when we had a 2013 Mustang rental - which we needed to visit the Flat Rock Plant on the prior Thursday to see the new model. Did you attend this, or the MOCSEM meeting the following Tuesday? You can see the club comments on my 5 minute talk in the September issue of the 'Accelerator'. We also saw Jack Roush at his museum in Livonia on the Saturday afternoon. This was arranged by a nurse I met in 1969 as a medical student working for 3 months in a Wayne County hospital as an extern, whose son years+ later worked for Jack. Small world isn't it!! Our club AGM is on June 24th, and I hope Rae can attend from the South Island. Will leave this surprise email now, as I will have to send a note to Rae!! I got, after a 1/2 hour search of Vermont car clubs on Google, the 'Leave a Reply' site Cheers, Peter and Jocelyn Rich. PS My sister's name is Christobel, ie another Chris
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EditorWayne is a 52-year-old stock analyst with a penchant for classic cars and the martial arts. He takes his daughters on trips all over New England in his 1972 Buick Centurion. Archives
June 2019
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