I moved your post and created your own thread. I’m certain other forum members will enjoy learning more about this project and its history.
1969 Mustang Restoration
I’m glad you kept it original. Too many restomods out there. There needs to be cars restored to original so everyone can appreciate what they were really like. You’re doing it the right way. Sourcing OEM parts, restored originals or built on original toolling.
I’ve been in a project That’s going on four years that’s coming to a close soon. The car needed so much work but it’s so rare I had to restore it. 69 mustang GT, 390 big block coupe, vinyl top, special paint, a/c, tilt a way, bench seat, am/fm stereo. The car has several one offs includingIt was built for Josephine Ford, Henry Ford’s granddaughter, (the sister of Henry Ford II). I spent almost as much in parts as I did buying my GT500. I felt I didn’t have any choice. This car has provenance and needs to be restored to concours standards. Here’s a few pics below. The car has been gapped and will be ready for blocking and Paint soon. I’m hoping to have it done by September. I also have a 70 mustang Mach 1. If you have any questions on restoration on classic mustangs , let me know.
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I’ve been in a project That’s going on four years that’s coming to a close soon. The car needed so much work but it’s so rare I had to restore it. 69 mustang GT, 390 big block coupe, vinyl top, special paint, a/c, tilt a way, bench seat, am/fm stereo. The car has several one offs includingIt was built for Josephine Ford, Henry Ford’s granddaughter, (the sister of Henry Ford II). I spent almost as much in parts as I did buying my GT500. I felt I didn’t have any choice. This car has provenance and needs to be restored to concours standards. Here’s a few pics below. The car has been gapped and will be ready for blocking and Paint soon. I’m hoping to have it done by September. I also have a 70 mustang Mach 1. If you have any questions on restoration on classic mustangs , let me know.
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Here is one of my favorite pieces. Ford made a custom steering wheel emblem for her car.
J F F. Josephine Ford married a gentleman named Walter Buhl Ford. His name was Ford, but he had no affiliation with the family. So Josephine Ford was known as Josephine Ford Ford. This is a really nice piece that Ford made to personalize my car. I love the Double F pattern.
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Wow, that is super cool on a multitude of levels... Just being a big block coupe is something rare, and then the Ford family connection. Have you ordered the factory invoice from Marti for it?? I'm wondering if Mrs. Ford is mentioned on it, and I'm also curious as to whether it was ever titled in her name, or just under FoMoCo and ultimately auctioned with all the other "program" and executive cars.
I've got five Ford family cars in my collection, Henry Ford II's 1956 Mark II, Benson Ford's 1956 Mark II, William Clay Ford Sr's 1956 Mark II, WCF Sr's 1980 Mark VI, and Henry Ford II's 1983 Mark VI. All are fully restored except the last one, which is a "project" I am not looking forward to. I rescued the car from the streets of Brooklyn last year, no joke. It needs mucho love LOL...
The Ford Design Center usually executed any/all of the post-assembly customizations, including the custom steering wheel emblems.
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I've got five Ford family cars in my collection, Henry Ford II's 1956 Mark II, Benson Ford's 1956 Mark II, William Clay Ford Sr's 1956 Mark II, WCF Sr's 1980 Mark VI, and Henry Ford II's 1983 Mark VI. All are fully restored except the last one, which is a "project" I am not looking forward to. I rescued the car from the streets of Brooklyn last year, no joke. It needs mucho love LOL...
The Ford Design Center usually executed any/all of the post-assembly customizations, including the custom steering wheel emblems.
Wow, awesome collection. I heard the Ford design center did the customization, usually to the interior. I spoke to Bob Perkins about it, and he said most of the family members had some kind of customization done to their interiors. Other than seeing Henry ford II’s 66 convertible sell on mecum then Barrett, I haven’t found anyone else with Ford family members cars. I’m glad I posted here. Thanks for the photos.
I have the Eminger invoice. It was titled in her name as Mrs. J.F. Ford. Code 89,000 which is Ford Motor Company, Ford transportation. The address she used was a vacant lot that I think she owned, not far from the Edsel Ford Mansion where she grew up. Provençal is the most expensive street in Grosse Pointe. That lot is still vacant. Sold for $1,100,000 5 years ago
The person I bought it from acquired it from a family that were close friends of the Ford family. I I never got to speak to that family to get the rest of the history of the car or how long they had it, But I believe they had it for a very long time. I tried to do a title search in Michigan asking how many times the title changed hands but they refused to give me the information. I didn’t want names, just the dates of title transfer.
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I have the Eminger invoice. It was titled in her name as Mrs. J.F. Ford. Code 89,000 which is Ford Motor Company, Ford transportation. The address she used was a vacant lot that I think she owned, not far from the Edsel Ford Mansion where she grew up. Provençal is the most expensive street in Grosse Pointe. That lot is still vacant. Sold for $1,100,000 5 years ago
The person I bought it from acquired it from a family that were close friends of the Ford family. I I never got to speak to that family to get the rest of the history of the car or how long they had it, But I believe they had it for a very long time. I tried to do a title search in Michigan asking how many times the title changed hands but they refused to give me the information. I didn’t want names, just the dates of title transfer.
We believe the color was Anti-Establish Mint Green. The previous owner sent a sample to Kevin Marti and that’s what he came up with. The car was repainted winter blue when I got it. But I did find original paint on the headlight buckets on the front fenders. Imagine a metallic green car, white vinyl, roof, white, GT stripes on the side, white interior. It looks like silver jade, just not so silver.
how did you manage to acquire so many of the family members cars? What about that car in the Bronx? How did you manage to stumble on that?
My thoughts exactly... I kinda dig it!!
Oh boy, you just asked to have your own thread hijacked!!! LOL.. I can only tell the stories the right way..
The cars belong to me now, but credit for the acquisitions (except the '83 MK VI) all goes to my dad, and the fact that he's always had all the right friends in all the right places LOL...
It started in the early 1980's, my grandfather had just visited his sister and brother-in-law in CA, and they owned a 1956 Mark II that incidentally was Eleanor Ford's car for when she spent time in CA. Anyhow, my grandfather was so impressed he asked my dad to find him a nice Mark II. Dad called his good friend Roger, who belonged to the LCOC club in Detroit and also worked for Ford at the time in I.T.. Roger's one of those guys who knows everyone, and everyone knows Roger LOL.. Anyhow, a couple hours later, Dad gets a call back from Roger... "Jim, how would you like Mr. Ford's car?".. So that was the first one. It was William Clay Ford Sr's Mark II, that in 1968 he had Ford engineering retrofit it with the all-new 460 V8, and Ford Design refinished it in Honolulu Blue with blue and silver interior, to match Mr. Ford's Detroit Lions football team. It had been in storage at the old Packard plant, and it was a little bit dogeared, but it ran and was available and dad jumped at the opportunity.
The blue WCF Mark VI came to us in/around 1997, another "Roger" find, purchased from retired Ford Illustrator Dom Pacitti, who purchased it from WCF. We did a frame-off restoration of the car.
Back to the Mark II, many years after my grandfather handed the keys back to my dad and a complete restoration later, let's say around 2000, dad had the car at a LCOC convention, and the owner of Benson Ford's Mark II was there with that car (green car). The owner was a retired Ford exec, and was the second owner, Benson being first. Similarly, Benson had Ford Engineering retrofit his Mark II with the all-new 430 V8 in 1958. Anyhow, when the owner of that car passed away, he left a note in his papers asking his family to give dad first-shot at buying it, because he thought the two cars should be together, and he did.
Now with THAT in-hand, dad and I were eating lunch (Thai) and he wasn't saying anything, so I asked him what was on his mind, and he said "Now that we've got WCF's and Benson's Mark II's, I know where Henry II's Mark II is... It's been advertised for sale in Hemmings for two years, plain as day... The only reason no one's bought it is because it's a total basket-case, no one has been STUPID enough to buy it.... Well then.... I think I'm going to have to be that stupid dumb-ass who takes the project on".. LOL.. And what a project, Henry's first wife Anne gave the car to her personal secretary in 1958, and it was used as her daily-driver for 10 years, year-round, all seasons. It was rusted up to the door handles, literally.. So dad bought it, spent a half-day loading it up in pieces into his trailer, and we hauled that hulk and the green Mark II down to Lloyds Auto Restorations (best father-son shop on planet earth) in Bartow FL to restore them both. It took 4-5 years. All three cars have been displayed together at Amelia and Hilton Head concours, Edsel took a ride with me in his dad's Mark II, and that car was also the poster car for the 2013 Pebble Beach concours.
The black HFII 1983 Mark VI was my conquest, actually I've gotta credit Chris Dunn of Lincoln Land for it. Chris sells Lincolns and Lincoln parts, and is a good friend. The owner of the car was a customer, and happened to send Chris a photo of his car. He was a bus driver in Brooklyn. Chris keenly recognized that it had all of the same styling modifications that had been done to the blue WCF Mark VI, opera window delete, frenched-in rear window, etc.. I told Chris that if the car was ever available, I'd be a buyer, if Chris didn't want it. And 3-4 years later, sure enough, Chris asked the guy if it could be purchased, the answer was "yes", the money wasn't very much at all, and I bought a crusty/rusty Mark VI right off the curb in Brooklyn that was built for Henry Ford II.
That's the tale of acquisitions.. Here's the cars.. The one photo showing the knock-off wheels, those are the actual prototype wheels that Continental designers intended to be the production wheels, but they wound up not being strong enough, so they went with hubcaps on steel wheels instead. We found those in Detroit in the loft of a retired Continental employee's son, restored them, and installed them on the Benson car.
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