Sunday, June 24, 2007

My Mustang

My midlife crisis:



At the time I bought this beauty, it had a mere 6000 miles on the odometer. Now the odometer is close to turning over 100,000.

I bought this "pre-owned" Mustang GT convertible on my 49th birthday, with a bit of money which my father left me in his will.

After I'd gotten the salesman down as far as I could on the price, I pulled out my driver's license and said, "It's my birthday. What're gonna do for me?" He lowered the price another $200, which covered the fees for tags and title.

We've added a lot of dress-up to the Mustang, including the 18" wheels you see here, as well as interior billet-aluminum knobs and handles. We also added a chrome-plated fuel door, chrome-framed halogen headlights, a chrome frame to the third taillight, and an after-market grill. Chrome on the outside and under the hood; billet-aluminum for the interior.

Mr. AOW likes to think that the Mustang is his car. It's not! But I let him keep her shined up and add after-market chrome-plated, horsepower-enhancing goodies under the hood. Regrettably, I let him lower the car, so we have to be careful with that x-pipe exhaust when we go over speed bumps and come in the back gate.

I also let Mr. AOW take the Mustang to the drag strip now and then.

"How many tickets?" you ask. Well, I've gotten one speeding ticket. Mr. AOW has gotten too many to keep track of, but none lately.

In an odd way, my Mustang is responsible for my finding a circle of blogger friends. More on that later.

19 comments:

elmers brother said...

that looks like a sweet ride

Anonymous said...

That ornamental wheel on the door is so gauche. Do you hang pink fluffy dice on the rear view mirror?

Always On Watch said...

Anonymous,
That ornamental wheel is actually a clock which exactly matches the design of the wheels. Black and Decker, I think.

We don't have the clock any more. Somebody stole it.

We used the clock only for shows, not when on the road.

As for dice, NO!

Anonymous said...

They'd just fly away the first time you drove with the top down...

It does look like a fun car!

Dinah Lord said...

Vroom-vroom.

And we'll have fun, fun, fun til daddy takes the mustang away!

What a sweet ride...

I have mustang envy...

nanc said...

SCHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

is it possible we are having midlife moments when we start buying cars like this?

i used to accuse my old lt. at chp of that everytime he bought a new or classic car every six months...

thought sure he'd try to get me for insubordination a few times.

Always On Watch said...

Dinah,
The only way to assuage Mustang-envy is to buy a Mustang!

"Daddy" can't take my Mustang away. I own it outright. Yee-haw!

Always On Watch said...

Nanc,
Long live midlife moments!

I shouldn't have waited until middle age to get a convertible. Nothing like a spin with the top down to perk up the spirits. Now, the back? That's a different matter. Oh, well.

Gayle said...

I like the ornamental wheel, AOW. Too bad it was stolen:( It's a beautiful car!

And speaking of cars, the insurance adjuster was here and thinks what I posted about was a scam too. Just so you know. :)

Brooke said...

Sa-weeet! :D

Anonymous said...

Wilson Pickett

Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
You been running all over the town now.
Oh! I guess I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.

Always On Watch said...

Gayle,
I thought it sounded like a scam!

Thanks for the compliment.

Brooke,
Mr. AOW and I pamper that Mustang.

Farmer,
Aha! My theme song! Mr. AOW is the one who's racked up the tickets, though.

Canadian Sentinel said...

Very nice wheels, AOW.

Got a silver coupe myself... Chevy Cobalt.

Easy to burn rubber in it... and it's just the base engine and autotranny. Torque steer comes on whenever it's floored... one salivates to imagine what it's like driving the SS supercharged version, with optional power upgrade kit and full performance mods throughout...

Good to know you've got good taste in what you drive.

One year on... Absoultely trouble-free since new. Nothing has gone wrong at all.

American cars are rockin' again!

And your ponycar is about to gain competition again, retro-style... the Camaro and Challenger are a-comin' back, looking a lot like the originals. Talk's happenin' of the Firebird's return...

Gonna be a fun rivalry to watch all over again... like a remake of an original movie... The Ponycar Wars, it could be called.

Always On Watch said...

Canadian Sentinel,
I hadn't heard about the possibility of the Firebird coming back.

Your car has an autotranny? So does my Mustang. I wanted an automatic because of knee problems. And I'm glad that I went that way! So much stop-and-go driving here in the congested D.C. Metro area.

We've had a few unexpected repairs on the Mustang: intake manifold and broken transmission-mount. But no problems whatsoever before 50,000 miles.

I'm glad that my Mustang is silver. I had a red car years ago--too much spit 'n polish to do.

Canadian Sentinel said...

It'd be either a new Firebird or a Holden-based cooler-looking new Goat.

I read that somewhere. Seems to be the internal discussion at Pontiac.

Incidentally,the Pontiac G5 sister sells only a tenth as well as the Cobalt. I'd say it's cause of its boring taillight treatment- I mean, no way can it hold a candle to the Chevy's butt, with the 'Vette/Ferrari-esque quad round lights and so on. In fact, I also see a bit of Bugatti Veyron in the Cobalt's rear aspect! A Pontiac that looks boring next to a Chevy? Not gonna work!

cube said...

She's a beauty. I've had a soft spot in my heart for Mustangs ever since my father bought his midlife car ... a candy-apple red 1968 convertible with a black interior.

Anonymous said...

I'm not much for convertibles, but that's a nice ride Always.

Always On Watch said...

MK,
My one nod in the direction of materialism.

Truly, my midlife crisis!

Pastorius said...

Sweet.

:)