2007 SEMA - Build-your-own new 1967 Mustang fastback

Rust never sleeps. In the old days of leaded gas, cars lacked the rust proofing of modern automobiles. That means that a lot of very desirable cars have either rusted back to the earth, or need a ton of costly work for restoration.

An example: I'm roaming the show this year with a friend and colleague of mine. His dad has five classic Ford Mustangs in a barn, including one he bought new. (And no, I'm not telling you where they are.) But, putting it charitably, they all need a good amount of work. Meanwhile, the price of concours-ready examples has skyrocketed in recent years.

But there is an alternative. Hanging above the Ford stand here at SEMA is an entire 1967 Mustang fastback unibody. Well, to be fair, it LOOKS like a '67 'Stang, but it's actually a brand-new body shell from Dynacorn Classic Bodies, Inc. Sitting underneath this is a complete "1967" fastback, built with 95 percent reproduction parts. Ford licenses the design to companies that build the components. It's not just Mustangs getting the everything-old-is-new-again treatment; sitting not far away is a '55 Chevy built basically new from the ground-up. For mail-order do-it-yourselfers, Dynacorn Classic Bodies also offers 1967 and 1969 Chevrolet Camaro coupe and convertible bodies.

This gets me wondering. Skip ahead 20-30 years. What bodies will companies reproduce for Gen X'ers to buy and rebuild? (Given the need for a thrifty yet fun cars, we could use a Honda CRX Si shell now.) Use the Comments function below and let us know. Who knows if there will still be a market for these classic Mustangs and Chevys when the original owners have also rusted back to earth.

--Tom Mutchler

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Comments

[larry]

I have a $1,500 '90 civic hatch that gets 38 mpg and yet dominates $100,000 sports cars at the autocross track. It is stock DX model with an SI(D16A6) motor, lowered, with coilovers, adj. rear sway bar and good tires. That's it. Detroit could save itself if it would just copy my car, and build millions of them. I drove this car from western Colo. to Kansas City recently. I drove between 85 and 95 mph most of the way, and I got over 40mpg. And this car has 180,000 miles on it. The engine has at least 140,000.

[millard fillmore]

It's great to like your Honda,but Detroit shouldn't copy them and build millions.Not everybody wants a Honda.A copy of the Chevelle/GTO/Cutlass body from 68-72 would be my preference,but I wouldn't think that would be to everyone's taste.The original (71-71)Vega body,set up for a v-8 would probably sell,as the styling was nice,but the rust out of the bodies was a big problem.

[Jake]

That was a nice post! I always love Mustangs! I have a 1967 Mustang back in College... I sold it just 2 years ago on my friend... :)

[Evo 8]

I think WRXs & Evos will be big but cars like the Toyota Supra are already restoration projects now.

I think most people want restore cars they drove or wanted when they were in there teens.

[ashley]

hi, i really like the cars

[krispy]

well,
as cool as the mustangs were, i tend to prefer the original mercury cougar(67-69) if they were to release a kit for a classic '69 xr7/eleminator i would be impressed...

however, in keeping with the japanese theme, im gonna suggest that the venerable, datsun 240z be considered among the these noble titans as worthy of replication. in my humble opinion, this was the key example, along with the toyota 200gt, that japan had arrived at the table of world auto-racing competition. and elegantly at that, many of these finely crafted beasts still run just fine, and have much less rusting issues than, say, their european collegues.

they kept making the 240sx (s13)fastback(180sx) in japan for many years after the s14 and s15 body styles were introduced.

[Marno]

if you just look at what the teens say about these mustangs i believe that this car would last for much longer than we think, even myself would love to own a gt500. I think this is a great idea to build "new" "old" cars and to keep the running

[Trent]

I visited a shop in Arizona that builds 65-68 fastback shells sandblasted, & epoxy coated for half the cost of the Dynocorn. Drake Customs