Mustangs Unlimited

[Don Johnston]

Maybe the tariffs on China based repo parts did them in.

[427heaven]

No to all of the above. ITs sort of like wall mart or amazon, the big boys survive, the little mom and pop stores cant compete and close their doors. They all sell basically the same parts so who do you buy from?

[Don Johnston]

I hope Virginia Classic Mustang survives.    

[prototypefan]

Brant rocks!!!!!!!!

[jerry merrill]

I had a small Mustang business 15 years ago but after a while my regular job required a lot of travel so I closed up. The problem these large businesses have is that a large amount of mustangs have been restored to one degree or another and they generally are not driven much and no longer require constant parts replacement or upgrades so sales are way down plus the cost of running a business is way up and with the internet its hard to stay competitive.

[shelbydoug]

Chris called me 30 years ago and wanted to know why I wasn't buying parts from him.

Business in general peaked in 1986. Everyone had money. It has been sliding down since. The graphs don't lie.

It almost stopped completely under Clinton and fell off a cliff after 911 and never came back.


Producing and selling "hard products" here is no longer a way to profits. Becoming some kind of a banker is. You invest the money and make your profits on the interest. It's called a sophisticated economy. Unfortunately not everyone can be a banker and some of us need to be paid well for our knowledge and skills.


Shelby restoration parts we discuss here every day. Production line original, correct date codes, etc, etc. I gave up on calling MU honestly 20 years ago.

The person at the other end of the phone generally speaking had no idea what I was asking for.

$3500 Mustang coupes no one bothers with any more. Even on a Shelby, you have $100k either in parts or your own labor in the car. You are going to find the best original parts you can find for it.
Hoverman NEVER was into those details. Never. Time just caught up.

There was a hole in the reservoir and the water just leaked out and it dried up. There's a point at which a hot dog truck on every corner doesn't work any more.

[deathsled]

It is sad to see the passing of these things we cherish. It represents the gradual passing of our own lives. I believe that one day most of our cars will be dust with a few survivors here and there that will be relegated to museums along with other surviving artifacts of ancient civilizations. There is no market anymore for Roman chariot parts and I doubt any of said chariots have even survived the ages. They were used up and perhaps marveled at for a period of time then discarded.
I stand corrected. One was unearthed in Croatia. "Unearthed" is the operative word here.
https://www.archaeology.org/news/8115-191017-croatia-roman-chariot
In the words from Blade Runner: Revel in your time here.

[67 GT350]

Again, places like SEE JAY sell garbage products for less, you have to really search their site for the "better" repro crap. Nothing fits, my resto guy says he rather polish, straighten, clean up original parts (at a cost, mind you), and use them because repro garbage just does not fit. Have you ever tried to instill window repro moldings? I find that Branda, (hope anyway), Virgina, and a few other places will back their parts up. When you call SEE JAY, they don't know what you are talking about! Short story....I bought a rear bumper for a 66 Mustang, it would not fit, I measured the position of the holes for the bumper mounts, they were off, way off. I called them up and they would send me a new one, but they would not refund the money for the old one, unless I shipped it back to them at a cost of over 20$. The same with 2 magnum 500 rims I bought, BENT, they would not even exchange them, I never ordered from them again. I have a collection of wrong parts from all the "discount" Mustang places...yet people want to save a buck and put garbage on their cars. Thus the good places who usually try to sell the "good" stuff suffer.

[texas swede]

My 10 cents on this topic is, the increase of the value on these cars has caused the increase of demand for NOS parts.
We "rich" guys don't want reproduction parts on our cars and NOS availability is getting worse by the day.
Texas Swede

[deathsled]

As an aside, since it would appear the enthusiasm for our cars is waning with subsequent generations, perhaps being buried in one's Shelby becomes a more viable option. Like the ancient Roman chariot. Archeologists will puzzle over the dig.  This appears to be a fossil fuel burning vessel from the latter part of the 20th century. The parts all appear original (little would they know). The owner was buried with the vessel in a ritual we believe they held sacred from that time period as a method to bring the owner into the afterlife with great speed and a means to garner favor with the goddess of combustion.

[2112]

^^^

[deathsled]

As an addendum, one wonders how the threat of burial may all of a sudden generate renewed interest in vintage cars. Save the Shelbys!

[Jim Herrud]

I wonder if the vendor closings are partly because fewer folks are putting many miles their car.

When I bought my car in '83, these old Mustangs were a common sight - just another cool, old "used" car. Daily usage wears parts out or subjects them to damage that warrants replacement.

These days, I see very few '65/'66 Mustangs on the street, so maybe there's less need for replacement parts.

[Don Johnston]

The cost of parts and labor as escalated substantially and may be why not as many classic Mustangs are being restored, especially non-specialty (GT, HIPO, etc.).  It seemed that prices for parts in the 70s and 80s were pretty stable for a long stretch, then prices appeared to increase at rate higher than inflation. 

Ther does not seem to be any interest in the Fox body ponies either.  They were popular in gigh volumes for years with a rarity being a 5.0 that did not have any modifications.  The supercharger wars made them so popular at quarter mile tracks and even at SAAC conventions in the 1990s.

[Chad]

I hope Virginia Classic Mustang survives.   

AMEN!