Thank You!!!!!!!!!
I'm still trying to come down from last weekend, and all the excitement. What I'm most impressed about was the instant comraderie between owners--some that have never met each other before. I arrived early, about 8am, and had breakfast over at the Horseless Carriage (Galpin) Restaurant. Excellent food, I had a belgian waffle and eggs and sausage, with two cups of coffee...since I knew it was going to be a big day...
I ran into Scott Fuller and Nate C.,on my way out, and Nate is a real fun guy...I kept teasing him to "get more into it" (he was SO into it!!).... and thanks to Nate for the Nev. RR coin. When I arrived back at GAS, Tiffany and crew were there, setting up the tents for the BBQ, and tables for us to sit for lunch. They apparently do a lot of car shows, and, so, this was extravagent for us. Their restaurant (H.C.) provided the food, which was BBQ chicken and burgers, with all the fixins'.
There was a security guard at the driveway, and soon enough, Casey and Emily, his daughter arrived in style in a rented Shelby Hertz!! Talk about a dramatic entrance!! Casey says..."so, you must be Paul Newitt?!?!...to which I said: "and you must be Casey Hill"!!!. A big handshake, as it was a great thrill for me to finally meet Casey after all this time of doing things like lic. plate frames, articles, and the blueprint hunt. Casey likes to avoid too much accolades, but he is truly a dedicated enthusiast for the GT/CS; one that we owe a lot of gratitude to.
By about 9am, some GT/CS cars began to arrive...and we had a couple of non-CS Mustangs show up, which we politely told that we're only parking GT/CS Mustangs. Then about 15 Cs cars arrived, pretty much together, and the parking frenzy began. It began to look like a Ford Dealer's lot in 1968! The original cars were on the building side--and the new cars were parked against the opposite wall. I was in charge of passing out the lunch tickets (shown), that were about 2-1/2" wide. I'd go up to folks, and say, here is your lunch ticket, and they'd say, what do we owe you?...to which in a sarcastic tone I said, "well, it's free, but you can give me $15 if you'd like"...(LOL). Sorry to say, no takers on my sly money gig...
I met so many of the most wonderful people in the world. I already knew a few, like Mike and Robinette (who had a fuel line problem on the way--sorry to say, but they still made it); Donna, Joe, Jeff Miller, The Rings, Kevin R. with father; of course, Bob Teets, the Nutting family, and the Troops, and Louis & family, and Ron Moore (with the fantastic shirts and hats, of which he took off my Mustang hat to replace it with a Maroon anniv. hat, like I was a winner of a Nascar race); and there were people I've known of here, but never met, like Doug, and Bruce, and David Athens (the fastest timed CS on the planet); William N.(his CS had a dealer-installed hood tach, available in '68) and a nice couple from Alberta, Canada that brought their '07 all that way! I met with my old SD friend Ernie G (the owner of six CSs for sale); and of course, my "shrine pal" Marion (!!), Lee Horn (long time registered member), Randy C., Oscar (who's CS is coming along nicely!); Shane, "last minute" Sam; Barry M., Scott (CJ Cougar), Paul T., and Steve O. I hope I didn't forget anyone....oh yeah!! Neil H.!!! and that Ruben guy that I took to lunch at Knott's at FatBurger! A couple of guys from Arizona arrived, and the head of the Legendary Lime Registry--with a beautiful Lime CS was there, too!(and Ron with his '07 white CS) What I think everyone liked to see the most was how the folks here on this site, were able to meet face to face. THAT was very interesting!!!
Mary Jean Wesche and her husband made the trip from Florida, just to our show! It was a real honor to meet them, and be able to talk to Mary Jean, our "hero" in the MCA world for the GT/CS! (BTW--we're looking for a 4-speed '68 CS for her to restore). Thank you Mary Jean, for coming out for our event, and I am very honored to have met you.
Casey took the mike, and it was like being at a big Hollywood party!! Things were on time, and moved along nicely! They had big speakers there, and lots of music to set the mood. The weather was excellent (but I still got some sunburn); overcast a little; about 70 degrees. About then, too, Beau Boeckmann and his family arrived. I have to say that Beau is a very cool guy, and he is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.
They had a nice vinyl banner made, that we all signed, and I was asked to sign a 1/18th die cast CS in Maroon (nice color choice, guys). Casey had these beautiful small plaques made with the event logo on them, too. I was asked to sign them. Then, about 1pm, after our delicious lunch, we passed out the plaques, and then posed for photos in front of "someone's" (??) red CS....for photos of me, the owner, and Mary Jean handing out the plaques.
Then...just when it was winding down, Casey tells the crowd that there is another award to give out. Casey had told me about two weeks ago, that I was getting an award...and, so, I was of the assumption it was another one of the small plaques...so I wrote up a small speech.
So....Casey begins to talk about this award...and I'm standing there, ready to see a small plaque....and he begins to talk about Lee Iaccoca....and I'm wondering "hmmm...what?"....and then it was beginning to sink in...and I got excited, and moved all at the same time. The honor was hitting me, and I was trying to not "lose it", because I feel so honored already from all of you, and your support all these years...and then Beau stood next to me, and that alone is an honor...and they pull it out of the box, and WOW! This award is awesome!!!! My first comment under my breath was "gosh, this is like an Academy Award for cars"...and then Beau hands me the award, and my mind blanks out for a few seconds...and then Casey hands me the microphone. What do I say??? ...well, I tried to not freeze, and more importantly, not drop the award... (aah!). I knew I had a prepared speech in my back pocket (for what I thought was the other award), and, so I....er..uh...said I needed to upgrade the speech on the spot:
----------------
......"I first, would like to thank everyone for coming to the 40th anniversary of the GT/California Special event here at Galpin Auto Sports!
I would like to thank Beau Boechmann, and Tiffany Walker and their crew for having us here today, and for providing us with a wonderful Chicken, Burgers and Buffalo Chili lunch. And, oh, by the way, since there is never a free lunch, SOMEONE here has to buy a new CS across the street....Do I see any hands??
We celebrate this day from the hard work and vision of those at Ford that saw Southern California's car culture, back in 1967, and melded the projects over at Shelby with the Mustang program for 1968. We honor Lee Grey, and Lee Iaccoca for having the desire and willingness to take that chance to make us a limited edition Mustang, that we all know and love today.
This was the first factory-produced limited edition Mustang at the San Jose plant, and the first time that fiberglass parts were used at a Ford factory.
By late July, 1968, 3,867 GT/CS Mustangs, and 251 High Country Specials were produced. This project opened the door for a California Design and Production Office that worked with the trends and styles of the So. Cal car culture--back to Dearborn. A very large part of that So Cal car culture was, and is, right here at Galpin Ford. Today, Beau Boechmann is continuing that cutting edge of that car culture that we all love and admire in our new Ford vehicles.
I began the GT/CS Registry in 1985, after owning and driving my own CS since 1974. I was dissappointed at the lack of information (some of it incorrect!), and was off to do something about it. I began with contacting the SF office of Ford's advertising agency, JWT, which led to talking to Robert Roat, the account exec that worked on the GT/CS program, which led to phone call out of the blue, from Lee Grey, since Robert and Lee played golf together.
I interviewed Lee back in 1988, and was amazed at the amount of information he provided to me. Other contacts, through SAAC, led to talking to Fred Goodell, Shelby's Cheif Engineer that was in charge of making the CS parts in Dearborn. Local contact, Tom McIntyre from ACSCO provided information about Shelby Automotive, and their production of the hood pins, and side script. I was on a roll, and the rest is history!
In the meantime, I was receiving many registrations of GT/CS Mustangs still on the road, or were being restored. 10 cars on a single sheet became 40, then 100, than 200....and more! I honor and appreciate all the wonderful letters of support from the fine folks that have supported and encouraged me all these years. It was about early 1988, when I was able to collect about 150 registrations, and for the first time ever lay out the photos of these cars to see how they looked together after 20 years. It was an amazing moment to see this registry come together before my eyes! The GT/CS Registry has provided MCA with details about production changes such as the side reflectors, and the interior padding on the dash and inner windshield.
About a year ago, one of my proudest moments was when I was told that it was my 1989 book that inspired Ford to bring the GT/CS back to the 2007-2008 model years. I can't take all the credit, because it was you, the owners and enthusiasts that supported the GT/CS Registry from the beginning that share in this honor. 40 years is a long time for any car, especially one that has seen so many miles, long roads, dark and rainy nights, and car shows. We dig these cars out of fields, and garages to bring them back to life, and to love them like no other Mustang! It is to those of you that have appreciated the GT/CS for it's uniqueness, that we celebrate these 40 years....and it is only appropiate that we celebrate it in the heart of Southern California Car Culture--right here at Galpin Ford.
California DID make it happen...but it is YOU that makes it happen every day!!
Thank you so very much for your support!".....
-----------------
I then thought inside: "well, that went well", and then it was the clapping and a few cheers that made me almost "lose it right then and there". I can't tell you how much it means to me every time I get a compliment from anyone...and yet to have about 120 people do it all at once is overwhelming. I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. It's already an privledge to do this registry, and have fun at it, yet quite another to be so honored by such a fantastic award!!!!!! I kept telling myself that night "hey, you got this really cool award today!!" Oh, yeah...
I really had a great time, and I especially enjoyed meeting everyone!! My only regret is that I couldn't have spent more time talking to & getting to know everyone...3pm came around, and people were leaving....just when I was getting into the conversation....
My lasting impression afterwards is that we're going to have to do this more often...and in places that are easy for folks to get to. Maybe we can do it again at GAS, offer them a registration fee (??) next time...and there are picnics and just get togethers to work on each other's cars, etc....the possibilities are endless. I just know that this wonderful event has catalyzed us in that direction (although Mike and Robinette's GT/CS parties have done the same for Northern California, thank you Mike and Robinette).
I have a LOT of hope and excitement for the future of GT/CS owner enthusiasm. We haven't even seen the late models come into their own yet...and there will be more early models yet to be seen at future shows!
YOU Made it happen!! Thank you all for coming, and especially to those who came from far away places, just to be there with us!!
...and thank you all so much for your wonderful comments here on this thread....I am truly honored and so very lucky.
-- Paul M. Newitt.