For about 99 percent of those in our hobby, parting ways with your ride is a fact of life. Sure, there are a select few who are able to just keep amassing their collections, but for the rest of us, we must make room in the garage for the next project, or in my case, pad the budget for family priorities.
About two months ago, we parted ways with project ProCharged Pony. My wife Erica purchased the 60,000-mile GT back in 1996 and it served as her daily transportation for the better part of six or so years. We made a few cross-country trips in it, and it was stone reliable.
Once I joined the MM&FF staff in 2001, the GT was parked in the garage and we bought an AWD vehicle to navigate the northern New Jersey winters with. From that point on, the Mustang GT that my wife affectionately called Susie, which had only been modified with a K&N filter, off-road pipe and Flowmasters, would become part of the MM&FF stable.
With 143,000 miles on the clock, we installed an ATI ProCharger and the addition of cylinder heads and an intake manifold generated 470-plus horsepower at the wheels—no doubt a testament to the durability of the 5.0-liter engine. Over the years, we modified just about everything on the car.
During that time, we also picked up a '67 fastback Mustang GT, my '93 Cobra (project Stolen Goods), and most recently my '85 Mercury Capri. The GT was eventually finished and with the birth of our first child, it saw more dust collecting than driving.
Our family was also hit hard by the recent housing market crash, as it took its toll on the family real estate appraisal business. Now without a second income, it’s become increasingly difficult to keep the wife at home to raise our young one. With homeowners insurance and property tax escalating, we decided to thin out the herd a bit. I decided to sell the '67, as I had gotten over my musclecar kick, and had neither the time, nor the money for its restoration.
Since we started modifying my wife's '90 GT, our time behind the wheel was rather limited, as it spent more time at shops getting worked on, than it spent at home. In the seven years since we started toying with it, we really only drove it about a dozen times.
Though we didn't enjoy it as much as we could have, it was sad to see the new owner whisk it away. Susie had become part of the family no matter how neglected she may have been. There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears invested in her that made us really connected, not to mention she had been part of the family for over 11 years. My longest relationship with a vehicle has only lasted four years.
Reflecting on the decision a few months later, it was the right choice. We had five cars in the stable and there's only so much time in the day to maintain all of them by myself. Add to that the fact that cars now take a backseat to our expanding family and it really was better to send her off to someone that could devote more time and energy to her. We sure miss Susie, but we've got other things that need our attention. Kids do a great job of stealing your every minute, as do Cobras, Capris and the daily drivers that get you from point A to point B.