Car Review: A Rare Ford Mustang T5 Ready to Make Its Public Bow

by Nigel Matthews on Friday, June 13th, 2014

Our classic and collector car expert continues today with the final part of his four-part series on the restoration of public relations executive Laura Ballance’s rare 1967 Ford Mustang T5 by 360 Fabrication in Abbotsford…

 

 

The restoration story of Laura Ballance’s Mustang T5 has been an interesting to follow and one that is not typical of this kind of project.

Before I get carried away telling you what a T5 actually is, I have to report that with the help of the team at 360 Fabrication, suppliers White and Peters, BASF paint and the 200 plus hours of paint preparation, application, wet sanding and polishing by master painter Darren Emmerson, the car is finished!

And here is the best part, it’s on time and under budget, almost unheard of in days gone by, let alone today.

So what is so special about a T5 Mustang?

The Ford Mustang could not be sold in Germany as a ‘Mustang’ because a truck manufacturer there and later a motorcycle manufacturer owned the trademarked name. Both manufacturers offered to sell the rights to Ford for $10,000 each but Ford declined and decided the solution would be to use the initial Mustang project name T5 as the solution. With all of the changes required, they should have probably paid the $10,000. With there being so many U.S. armed forces bases in Germany, export models were highly sought after.

Laura had no idea how rare her car was until she decided to embark on this project and began doing her research.

The T5 registry has informed Laura that of the 453 Mustang Hardtop T5s built in 1967, hers is one of the few examples ordered with a vinyl roof, which is listed as an option in the V.I.N tag. There are only two T5s known to exist in Canada, hers and one in Ontario and only 45 have survived in various states of condition worldwide.

It is going to be a busy summer for Laura, her two daughters and the Mustang. I suspect her father, never in his wildest dreams would have thought the car would end up as a show car let alone become a family affair involving three generations of his family. The T5 will debut at the Vancouver Classic Car Show and Auction at the PNE on June 21 and 22. A picture of it at it’s gleaming best in next week’s Driveway preview of that show. Then it will head south in July to the Mustang Roundup in Bellevue, Washington, the world’s largest Mustang meet. The car is entered in the Concours restoration class and should place well.

Because this is the 50^th anniversary of the Mustang the invitations are pouring in, the most recent one from an event in North Carolina, Laura still has a day job so unfortunately will miss that one.  She will finish the summer off at the Luxury SuperCar weekend at VanDusen Gardens in September. The car will be viewed at least 30 or 31 times in a month, gracing the walls of garages and repair shops all over North America featured in a 2015 Ford calendar.

This concludes a restoration project with a happy conclusion.

*Nigel Matthews is the director of sales and marketing for Hagerty Insurance Canada.

Contact: nmatthews [at] hagerty [dot] com

**********

Your classic car could ‘Going once, going twice, sold!’

The 2014 Vancouver Collector Car Show & Auction, presented by the Dueck Auto Group, is now accepting consignment applications for those looking to sell their cars.

New to this year’s event, which takes take place June 21-22, at the PNE Fairgrounds, is an auction preview, open only to the auction’s registered bidders and consigners. This event will allow sellers to show off their vehicles and mingle with the bidders before the auction.

If you have an awesome car that you want to show off but don’t want to sell, they too can be displayed at the show for free. For more information on displaying or consigning your car, visit www.VancouverCollectorCars.com.