classicsguy said:
From what I have read I am not sure if the reason for the birth of the California Special was one of the following or both:
1- To spice up sales of the 1968 Mustang for the model year
2- To have a Regional Mustang special for the West Coast dealers
Can anyone clarify???
Thanks
Well, it's a long story, but basically, it was the idea of Lee Grey, the Los Angeles Sales District Manager. He saw "Little Red" (GT-500 expreimental coupe) at the L.A. Coliseum, when they were unveiling the 1968 Fords to the dealers and public, about August 1967. Shelby was looking for a public reaction to make Shelby Coupes.
Anyway, Lee met with Lee Iacocca ( a good friend of his), and brought Little Red to lunch. Iaccoca had the car airshipped to Dearborn. Ford saw it,and thought it should be a national car, called the GT/Sport Coupe (GT/SC). So, they thought it out, and decided since Calif. sold 20% of all Mustangs (and T-Birds) they had the clout to have their own Mustang. This was done to counter the loss of sales from the Nov.'67 UAW strike at Ford, and the coming of the other Muscle cars, like the Camaro, Cougar, etc.
So, it was driven by lagging sales. They had lots and lots of '68 coupes to sell. Something to spice up the spring sales for Ford. Car companies think in terms of weekly sales. It's very tenous, and every day counts.
The GT/CS was borne of marketing, not so much by design. It was driven by "FDAF", the Ford Dealer's Advertising Fund, that financed the whole project. It was a west coast-only project for Ford dealers, with Dearborn's approval and engineering, under Shelby Automotive's wing..
Paul N.
