There is a phrase that goes like this: "Perception is not reality".
I think that there is this myth that all Californians are from either Hollywood or Berkeley, and are full of attitude. The migration of folks from L.A. to places less populated, like Washington, Idaho and Arizona and points east, DO bring their culture with them, and expect everyone around them to acclimate. I won't deny it--some are downright rude, and I agree that that arrogance is not appropiate to take to new and different places.
I've lived all over California, and I am very, very proud to say so. This is a fantastic place! It is a very diverse state in culture, peoples, technology, agriculture, and vision; and (I feel) the most progressive state in the country. I have lived in San Diego, and Glendale, and even the Bay Area; but grew up in a small (Mayberry type) town called Dixon, near Sacramento in the '60's. It might well have been in the midwest. A population of 3,500 (then), and you could ride your bike home late at night and no one would bother you. I did the scout thing (made Eagle), and stuff like treehouses, and forts, and made wooden go-carts and played destruction derby in the cul-de-sac. So--I know what a small town life is like. If you live just about anywhere in the Central Valley, or Sierra foothills, it's just like living in rural America.
This has to do with culture. Californians can't be lumped into a single group. Yes--some folks from So. Cal., and the Bay Area, can be rude and self-centered. But it is unfair to make a blunt statement saying how ALL Californians are the same.
I had to say something, because making off-the-cuff subjective statements, I feel is rude in itself. I could comment on my pre-conceived notions of other states, but I don't, because it is unfair, stupid, and unprofessional. Besides, there is at least one of every type of person in the USA right here in Calif., so I don't need to.
What this has to do with our Mustangs is that we have a car that was made specifically for the people of (mostly Southern) California. This was a marketing scheme for the So. Calif Ford dealers. No one ever thought (or frankly cared) that decades later that this car would be all over the country, and overseas. To really appreciate this car; it's not just parts on a '68 Mustang, it's factory customizing (btw- a Calif. factory) that has it's roots in Shelby, and the hot rodders that worked on Cobras in Venice, CA.
It's truly a California Culture car, and if you've never driven in a GT/CS down to Santa Monica pier, or Highway One to Monterey, or to Disneyland, or across the Golden Gate Bridge (and jumped hills in S.F. "Bullit Style")--all of which I have done in my GT/CS --then you just have a piece of California culture sitting in your driveway that Ford agreed to make. It's like eating a Philly steak sandwich in Hawaii, or Chicago Pizza in Arizona.
Without appreciating how this car came to be, or appreciating California culture for Mustangs, then you are denying yourself the full enjoyment of what this car is all about. Texas dealers were jealous about the GT/CS and wanted their own version--but Ford said NO. Texas wasn't selling 20% of all Mustangs then, and the car culture there was non-existent, compared to California (at that time).
So--when I suggested "California Made it Happen", it was in the context of the original advertising, AND the truth about how it came to be. You have to think of this historically--not present day, or through today's political perceptions.
Paul N. 8)
