...I find it interesting they would be jump starting sales in the Northwest when the original intent was to only sell in California. I wonder if Ford planned on expanding outside of CA early on.
Wasn't there some discussion in an earlier thread that each of the original 14 prototypes had a tach?
To quote myself :wink: .. any thoughts on the push for the Northwest when California was the only planned selling area?
Do you think these Gold Nuggets were similar to High Country's?
Arlie,
That is unknown to anything I have read. May very be that all the 14 cars were very loaded with options. Would make sense to enure they went off with a bang on 15 February show.
Rob
Here is a post from Paul about the cars at the unveiling. Guess it wasn't the original 14.
I keep forgetting to tell this story....
In my 1988 interview with Lee Grey (So. Calif. Sales Mgr. in 1968), he told me that they originally wanted to include the in-dash tach as part of the GT/CS package.
In fact, the pilot cars on the floor of the Century Plaza Hotel (promo night, Feb 15, 1968) all had in-dash tachs, regardless of engine type or trans type. It was part of that "looks like a Shelby" idea (since all Shelbys had in-dash tachs) I can't say if they were all 6 grand or 8 grand type..
Unfortunately, it didn't become a production item.
More about it in the book.
Paul N.
I believe there was a jig for drilling the holes in the quarter panels but it was decided later to change the configuration so a new jig was made, if the holes in the first ones were in fact different. I find it very difficult to believe the the script would have been mounted backwards, as on some cars, unless the hole spacing is exactly reversed between left and right sides.
Steve
Steve,
There is a post somewhere on this site somewhere where someone, maybe Paul, indicates that often after bodywork or paint jobs, the body shop or owners end up measuring one side, and then use that measurement on the other side, but that doesn't translate. That would make sense to me but looking at it I think I would hesitate before doing anything thinking it doesn't look right - but that's just me.
Rob,
Sorry if this has maybe been addressed already but... Did the paper ads that you've found show a picture? And did it look like a GT/CS with scoops and stripes?
-Jeff
I'll throw in my 2 cents worth. This is for general information only to assist in research, not meant as a promotion or criticism of any point of view. I used to work in a production facility (Hyster Forklifts) doing prototype work on automated forklifts and pallet handlers. I imagine Ford would function in similar ways. If something was going to be built, it wasn't like a couple of guys sitting around on a break and saying "Hey, lets do this on our lunch hour". Engineering would come up with a proposal, it would be accepted by management, procurement would order all the parts, jigs/tooling would be made, etc. before the first item was built. Then a prototype or series of prototypes would be built (possibly the 14 we're talking about in this case) to find the problems and ensure it's what was wanted. I believe there was a jig for drilling the holes in the quarter panels but it was decided later to change the configuration so a new jig was made, if the holes in the first ones were in fact different. I find it very difficult to believe the the script would have been mounted backwards, as on some cars, unless the hole spacing is exactly reversed between left and right sides. Everything would have been documented and should show up as such if Kevin Marti does in fact have Fords complete database. Mistakes most certainly happened because the human equation never changes but I believe it would have happened on an individual basis, not on a large scale. I would imagine that the first 14 cars are listed as CS's. Finally, I was under the impression (from Paul's research I believe) that the CS option was meant for California and only opened up to other areas when sales failed to meet expectations, which would preclude a Northwest version that predates the California ones. I hope you find you have what you suspect you have, just because that would be cool, but I think you'd have to have indisputeable documentation.
Steve
HI Rob, I'm an original owner of my CS.
I was just wondering if you had some pics of the inside of the trunk of your
GN Special. Just want to know if the tail section and the tail light wireing is the same for the GN as it is for the CS. The pics in your gallery do not show many of the CS only parts.
Very cool looking Stangs, you should be proud!
John
Rob, please show us some more pics of the CS only parts that are on your GN Special. That may clear up alot of the questions we have.
John