Garaged for 50 Years Earns Gold
Jerry, a San Diego area resident went to help an elderly friend with a computer problem in Lemon Grove California. When he arrived his ninety year old friend Andy Canepa was cleaning out his garage. Jerry found this strange as Andy never parked neither of his two new Honda’s in the garage. When asked why Andy was cleaning out his garage, Andy answered that he was making room for another car. He explained that his sister, Florence Johnson, 93, wasn’t driving any more and she wanted to give her car to him.
Jerry’s interest was piqued when Andy mentioned the car was a Mustang because his first car was a ’67 Mustang. Jerry asked what year it was. Andy wasn’t sure but he said it was bought many years ago. The next question was, could we go look at it? Andy said sure. It was only about a mile away.
At Florence’s house, Andy opened the garage door and there sat a dirty Springtime Yellow 1967 MustangCoupe with 3 flat tires. The car was covered with rugs and boxes. The car looked to be in good shape but it was so dirty it was hard to tell.
Except for the color, the car was similar to Jerry’s 1967 Mustang: The body style, 289, and automatic. There was one other difference. Florence ordered the car new with a bench seat.
The Mustang showed 37,113 (actual) miles on the odometer with one owner for 50 years. There in the glove compartment were the original warranty card, owners manual and other papers delivered with the car on September 30, 1966. The original keys with the original key cut tags in tact on the original dealer key fob from University Ford in San Diego were included as well.
After striking a deal, Florence, 93 years young, came out of the house and stepped a few feet into the garage. She wanted to make sure it was going to a good home and said the car had always been in the garage when not in use. It never sat outside and wanted to make sure Jerry had a garage to keep it in. She said it was never rained on nor did she ever intentionally drive it in the rain. The car had been caught in the rain a few times, but she avoided it at all cost.
Being assured that the car was going to a good home and that Jerry would never let the car sit out when it was parked, Florence went back into the house. Two weeks later she passed away at the age of 93. Jerry guesses that knowing that her beloved Mustang was going to a good home was the last of her worries and she was ready to meet her husband and only daughter that passed away many years before her.
Once the tires were pumped up and the car pushed out of the garage, Jerry took pictures of it so he could get insurance on it before taking it home.
The first antique auto insurance company that he first applied with said it would not insure such a wreck that was in such bad shape. Jerry called them and explained that the car was in new condition and just said it needed to be washed. They said no way. Jerry, who happened to be a retired insurance agent of 25 years, knew right away he was dealing with the wrong insurance company.
He then contacted another antique auto insurance company that looked at the pictures and easily agreed to insure the Mustang for top value and could see through the dirt and dust. Jerry charged up the battery and the car turned over just fine but would not start. The last stickers on the license plate were 2003 so it had been sitting for a long time. Jerry had it towed a few miles to his home, and popped off the distributor cap and cleaned the points and rotor. With a turn of the key it started right away even with the 20 year old gas in the tank.
Then the process of cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning revealed a very good condition all original vehicle. Florence was 43 years old when in September of 1966 she ordered the new 67 Mustang. The car hadn’t been driven hard for it’s entire life.
The only modifications she did were to put San Diego Chargers stickers on the inside of the three rear windows and she put a Saint Christopher magnet on the metal ashtray door on the dash. There was also a State Farm Insurance sticker on the rear bumper.
What a joy it was to clean up such an original, unrestored find. Jerry assumed that since there were millions of these cars sold in the 60’s that this was not that uncommon to find one in this great condition. But as he took it to various car shows including Mustang and Ford shows he found that he had the only unrestored Mustang in great condition .
The detailed ‘67 Mustang was entered in the National Antique Automobile Club of America car show in Tucson, Arizona. It received the Historical Preservation of Original Features award.
A member of the Mustang Club of America was at the Tucson show and mentioned to Jerry that the car was a jewel and he had to take it to the National Mustang show the following month in Georgia. They had a special class for unrestored Mustangs and everybody would just love to see such a car. He stated that in all his years belonging to the national club he has only seen a handful of unrestored early Mustangs in such great condition. Being only a month away and Georgia being so far away from San Diego, Jerry passed on the idea. But after looking at the calendar of events for the Mustang Club of America he found the next national show in Lincoln Nebraska 3 months away. That show was a lot closer and would give him plenty of time to prepare.
Jerry first found and called Johnnie Garner, the national MCA judge for his class of unrestored 1964 1⁄2 to 1973 Mustangs and started to ask questions with regard to the class that his car would be in. He also asked who had the finest example of an unrestored Mustang so he could get an idea what he was up against.
Johnnie told him of a man in Bend, Oregon that won gold last year by the name of Craig Denson. Jerry contacted Craig and eventually made a detailed video of the Springtime Yellow ’67 and sent a copy to Craig and a couple of other knowledgeable Mustang restorers, Bob Perkins from Wisconsin and Marcus Anghel from Scottsdale Arizona. Everyone got back to Jerry with a long list of things that needed replacing. Hoses, clamps, belts, tires and an original battery. The goal is to make the car look just as it did when it left the dealer showroom without any restoration at all.
Following weeks of ordering and installing all of the items there was one item left. The ever elusive original 24F Autolite battery with the 6 red caps and red Autolite on the side. The search continued but no battery was to be found anywhere.
Two weeks before the show in Nebraska, Jerry found what looked like the correct battery on eBay, but it was not for sale. It was sitting on top of an old AutoLite battery rack that was for sale on eBay.
The seller said he owned the old battery for many years. It came from a then closed Ford dealership in Abilene, Kansas. It had sat on the parts counter as a display battery for over 20 years and when the dealer closed he bought it. The eBay seller stated that he wanted $85 for the battery. Jerry found it hard to contain his excitement. He paid for shipping the 43 pound battery and had it in a few days. The final jewel for his build was there in his hands for the show next week.
After borrowing an Econoline van and renting a trailer, Jerry drove for 24 hours from San Diego to Lincoln Nebraska. The car got rained on 3 times during the trip and then twice the morning of the show. He was sure that Florence would not have been very happy to see the car get wet. When he arrived at the show, there were 300 cars to be judged and maybe another 200 that were just there to shown and not be judged.
In the unrestored class there were only 4 Mustangs from around the U.S.A. Craig Denson from Bend, Oregon, Marty Rupp from Lincoln, Jerry Kay from San Diego and Bob Perkins from Wisconsin. These were all the guys that had been helping Jerry over that past few months on what changes to make to help the car to win gold. Two months prior, at the Georgia show, there were no original cars present for the unrestored class. It is by far the smallest class at the MCA shows because of the rarity.
The judging was grueling. On Saturday afternoon three judges spent 1 hour 45 minutes going over every part on the Springtime Yellow beauty with a 20 page checklist and the owner had to be there all the time to answer any questions the judges might have. The windows had to be rolled up so they could see the markings to make sure the glass was original. The judges also gave Jerry a lot of good pointers on what to do to improve the car and how to do it. But Jerry had to wait until Sunday afternoon to hear the results of the judging.
On Sunday hundreds of people entered the air conditioned Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln for the results. Then the moment Jerry had been waiting for. The Jumbotron lit up with the following: “next up in unrestored class a gold award for the ’67 Springtime Yellow coupe, Jerry Kay.” The crowd cheered. Many people walking by noticed the 1967 time capsule during the 3 day show. The greatest reward was finally bestowed on the 50 year old garage find.
You need at least 96% of the points to win gold. Jerry had attained 97.5% of the points. He was amused that the judges even deducted one point for the St Christopher magnet on the ashtray as it had not been a Ford dealer accessory delivered with the car. Jerry said he would never remove that piece of history off the dash that was installed by the previous owner. It was surreal to win gold the first time at a MCA national event.
Jerry has taken the car as far as it can go and sees himself as the temporary custodian of this jewel with the Springtime Yellow paint. He is now ready to part with it and move on. Next maybe something a little more muscular?
Maybe a black 2019 GT500?
