Was wondering what to expect to see on Marti Report for a 1968 HCS. I just got my report today and it doesn't show High Country Special any where on it. It shows an option as California Special. Tag shows DSO 51. Shouldn't it say High Country Special on the report somewhere? ???

I'll have to look at mine when I get home, but California Specials weren't sent to DSO 51, so it automatically makes it a HCS.

On Marti report it has the California Special option .Then at the very bottom it has High Country Special listed. At the Hershey show one of the judges asked me to prove what I had. At first I couldn"t find HCS listed evently I found it. 8)

19HCS68,
All GT/CS's and HCS's will say "California Special" option and not HCS. The only way you can tell is if the DSO states "51" (which yours does) then it is a HCS not GT/CS. There where no GT/CS's sold with the DSO of 51. The Marti Report is a reflection of the options available in 1968, and option was called Calfornia Special. The DSO of 51 made any car sold to that area a HCS. Dont' worry your car is a true "HCS".
Doug

For what its worth, like Tom's my Marti report actually says my car is a HCS down at the bottom right above his signature.

I just checked and my report doesn't say HCS either. It lists "California Special" as the first option, then the rest of the options, then the, "Your car was actually produced..." and then Kevin's signature.

Mine is the deluxe report. Is that the same report that you have hcsstang and bish?

Mine is the deluxe

I ordered the deluxe version as well. Mine looks like Jons report based on his description. I called them about this and was told to make a copy of report and send it to them with a letter explaining what my question is. I will do that and see what I get back. Those that show the HCS on their report, does it give the statistics of production numbers for HCS? Last but not least, THANKS for your help everyone! ;D

I'm not sure if it lists the production number, If memory serves me correctly it only lists the total number of GT/CS which I assume includes the HCS.
Anyone know if the total GT/CS number on the report includes the HCS?

I have the deluxe report also.

19HCS68,
There were 4118 GT/CS's made in 1968, of those 251 were HCS's.
Doug

HCS production was 251 and confirmed by Bob Teets

This question is for those that did say High Country Special on their report. Did you specificly state when you ordered the report that you was wanting to confirm that it was an HCS car?

I gave my mailing address for the report. I hope the Marti will be at Carlisle show this week end.

I don't recall if I told them I was looking to confirm a HCS or not when I ordered the report.

All that I sent in was the VIN and my return address ::)

does the deluxe report tell you what kind of lights came on the car? Marchal or Lucas

No. The report shows a California Special option to which the fog lights were included in package. From other posts I've read, it seems that there was a cut off date for the Marchal lights and then Ford installed the Lucas lights from then on. I don't know the date myself, maybe someone else here knows. This was caused by the laws in California saying that the Marchals were too bright. ::) No HCS cars were produced with the Marchal lights.

Car i am looking at was built on feb 15 and doesn't have the org lights on it. Just wondering if it had Marchal or Lucas.

The Marchal lights were used up until April 26, 1968. After that date all GT/CS cars used the Lucas lights. So depending on the build date of your car you could run either light. My particular car has a build date of 15 April 1968 so I can run either light because of the retrofit/recall by Ford to replace the Marchal lights. Hope this helps.

Don :)

My car was built on April 15th, and has the Marchals. But it was sold in Canada, so I don't know if that helps with the time line of "what was the cutoff date". Also, a recall was sent out on the Marchal lights, and customers could have "chosen" to ignore the recall. Cars that were not yet off the dealer lot had to go thru the retrofit to Lucas lights.
Robert

I wonder if they changed out the mounting hardware form Marchal to the Lucas mount? Car I have found doesn't have either light on it at the moment but has the mount like the Marchal lights. But the Marchal Lights are so hard to find I think I would like the Lucas Lights better. But have never seen a GT/CS with Marchal Lights in a picture or in person. Also never seen a GT/CS with the Marchal mounts with Lucas Lights?

speedy02,
they did not change out the mounting brackets when Ford switched to the Lucas lights. To be authentic, even a Lucas light CS should have the "Marchal grille brackets" and the wiring for the Lucas lights should go through the hole in the bracket. ALL GT/CS or HCS cars should have the Marchal grille brackets no matter when it was built.

Doug

The end to my dilemma of no HCS info on my Marti report went as follows. After talking with Mr. Marti on the phone and conversing on what I would have liked to see on my report, he made me a new report that does mention car is an HCS and the stats of 1 of 251 in the stats box for 12 more dollars. I'm happy now! ;D

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. You people are great! 8)

Gary

my marti report has High Country Special at the bottom of the option list

an interesting side note is that Ford engineers designed a small retrofit bracket to mount the Lucas lights onto the Marchal brackets. I think they didn't do that, because it put the Lucas lights too high into the grille.

I have the engineering drawings for that.

One more thing to put into the new book!

Paul N.

Paul; Is there a brace that would stiffin the original grilles. Reason I ask is that my Marchal lights bounce so bad when I'm driving it's alsmost insane. I'm thinking of making my own brace to strengthen the grille area were the lights mount to the bracket. Just a thought.

Don ::)

Not all Marchalls at the dealers were swapped out for recall, I am happy to report. My GT/CS according to the Marti Report was sold on July 14 1968. My car has the Marchalls on it and does not have holes in the moldings from lucas lights or wiring changes indicating that a previous owner swapped them back. My car was built March 8.
There is always an exception to the rule.