Classic Recollections: '67 Ford Mustang
Automotive blunders can happen to anybody. Chalk it up to naiveté, oversight or just getting caught up in the moment.
That's exactly the predicament Angelo Pavlis found himself in after making “modifications” to his family's 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle.
“My dad bought it new for $2,800 and it served as the family car for many years,” the Arlington Heights resident recalls. Soon, its well-worn keys were placed in his eager hands. During his high school years, Pavlis tore into the muscled bruiser, “ripping up everything.”
“When I was through with it, everything was so wrong!” he said. The cherry red classic had lost its original hood, was given a dual-quad tunnel ram setup and rolled on mismatching mag wheels.
The Chevelle may have oozed street cred, but it was far from being anywhere close to factory correct.
Pavlis' Chevelle has been a memory since 1987, but he still longed for a vintage American cruiser. And with some lingering regret over the radical modifying he did earlier, Pavlis purchased a 1967 Ford Mustang GT in 2010. However, this time around, he vowed things were going to be different.
“I had no interest in ‘tricking it out' by putting a blower through the hood or tacking on a chrome dress up kit,” Pavlis said. “I wanted it to be in its original, classic form.”
It was the timeless styling of Ford's fastback Mustang that caught Pavlis's eye. He ended up finding one in East Dundee at Mustang Restorations. The Georgia-sourced car was in mid-restoration but its owner was losing steam with the overhaul.
Pavlis seized the opportunity and made the purchase, leaving the GT with shop owner Chris Ingrassia to finish the ground-up restoration.
The stock 289-cubic-inch V-8 had been rebuilt but wasn't to Pavlis' liking. To make it more streetable, he had a Edlebrock Street Performance camshaft, performance manifold and carburetor installed. The C-4 automatic transmission received an overhaul while the stock rear gears were swapped out for a 3.55 Posi, giving it “that extra kick.”
For even more cruising comfort, the front suspension received new bar joints and upper and lower control arms.
“I was drawn to the car because of its special dealer option only Silver Frost Metallic paint. Its just not a color you see that often,” Pavlis said. After receiving the Marti Report, he found out only 141 fastbacks came in this color for 1967.
Another seldom seen feature is the rear taillight bezel trim, another unique dealer option.
Since the four-wheeled pony's completion, Pavlis has enjoyed getting plenty of seat time behind the wheel. “The driving experience is exhilarating. And its not just fun for me — it's a good feeling to see the enjoyment it brings to everyone, even complete strangers.”
He's also been pleased with the reaction of car show judges, having brought home seven trophies in his first year of ownership from events in Glenview, Schaumburg and Wauconda. Not every outing is for points, though, as he'll head to the Palatine and Mount Prospect cruise nights during the summer season.
“As it sits, it's been restored to or better than the day it rolled off the showroom floor,” he said. “I couldn't be happier with it.”