Wild Cars, Episode 4: Wild Horses

There was a period of my life that can in retrospect only be called "The Mustang Era", because after wanting a shiny new pony car for many years, I finally got three in a row, a linear stampede of color and chrome that lasted seven years.

I guess I was lucky in the timing. Gas was still relatively cheap then, and I got one long stretch of muscle-car euphoria before I went back to the displacement-challenged, more practical cars of today.

My first 'Stang was a 1996 GT, all decked out in purple with three shades of gray inside. I really wanted a convertible, but it's a $4,000 bump and you can't even consider buying one here in Michigan without all manner of would-be advisers reminding you that "it's not worth it because of the short summers here". Hmpf.


But my first Mustang was exhilarating after so many years of huffing, underpowered asthmatic econoboxes. It was so fun to drive that I slid right from that one into an even more powerful screaming yellow GT in 1999. Still no convertible...$4,000 plus grief from the weather-fun-killers, remember.


Finally, for 2001, I bit the bullet and ordered a red GT convertible, and I was SO glad I did. Turns out we have quite a long drop-top season here in Michigan, at least for those of us with functioning circulatory systems. So it turned out the naysayers were wrong after all. Go figure. And Zach just loved the thing. "Pop the top, Daddy" he would say every time we rolled away from the curb amidst a chorus of thundering V8 exhaust notes.


In case there is any doubt in your minds, NO, I didn't even consider getting automatic transmissions in any of these cars. That would be the highest form of sacrilege. There is nothing in this world as fun as a hot car with a V8-powered stick shift...it's just you and the road.

Oh, there were compromises to be sure. Mustangs don't have much trunk space when they get done cramming in those two big subwoofer amps, and that room shrinks to almost nothing when you bite out a big chunk for a convertible roof mechanism.

And winter driving was always at least challenging, and often downright dangerous. Road-wrinkling torque, rear-wheel drive, and Traction-Lok axles do not play nice with snow.

But the ponies were worth it, every minute. It doesn't get any better than rolling down Woodward Ave on a hot summer evening, top down, music up.

Not a care in the world. That's what you're really buying, not mere transportation.