• Welcome to the CaliforniaSpecial.com forums! - You are currently viewing the forums as a GUEST. To take advantage of all our site features, please take a moment to join our community! It's fast, simple and absolutely free.

    If you have problems registering or can't log into your account, please contact Admin.

    Please Note: If you are an existing member and your password no longer works, click here to reset it.

. Your thoughts on the new California Special book/registry

JohnsCS/CJ

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2011
Messages
9
Location
Alpine, Utah
With people starting to get their copies I thought it'd be cool to start a thread where your thoughts of the new GT/CS book/registry could shared. Please start sharing folks, I can't wait to get my copy and I'm sure others are chompin' at the bit to hear about it too! :icon_ecst

Thanks!

Oscar

Got my books today, it was a long time coming, but worth it.
Looks like about 95% of the information in the book came from
owners and people on this site. Thank you all for that!
Paul N. done a good job of putting the information together in
the book. I thank Paul for that!

John
 

GT/CS S Code

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
912
Location
Victoria, B.C., Canada
On the way ...

I emailed Paul last night and got a response letting me know that our pre-ordered copy was shipped a couple of days ago and we should see it in about 10 days. (It's a longer pony ride to get it up to Canada)
Good timing since we're just getting into our local show and shine season ...
:cool:
 

SD CASPCL

Active member
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Messages
34
Location
Rapid City, SD
I received my pre-ordered book yesterday. It was a rainy, cool day, so what better time to read the new edition. I was impressed with the quality, and printing. The photos are great, and although I am a twice owner of the new generation (2007) and now 2011, I enjoyed reading the lead articles about the creation of the 1968 model. All in all, money well spent.
 

GT/CS S Code

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
912
Location
Victoria, B.C., Canada
Another recesessed gas cap ...

I don't agree.

If you look at how the panel fits on the blue car the largest gap is on the bottom of the opening where there is no adjustment for the panel. The bottom half of the panel screws onto the body with no opportunity for horizontal adjustment. Add to that the fact that these huge gaps are only found on early cars leads me to agree with Paul that some strange taillight panels were being produced yearly in the run.

Maybe such large gaps are not found on Shelbys because those panels were rejected and not used, then some bright executive came up with the idea to use the reject parts on the California Specials. Ford was into saving money at the time so taking rejected parts from their premier cars and using them on their lesser cars would earn someone a promotion and/or a bonus.

Hey Arlie!
Here is a little bit more "fuel for the fire" on this discussion of the early (?) production recessed gas caps. We took our car up to Parksville today for the Ford Spring Spectacular hosted by Joe Cunningham Ford. Finally got to meet Bill and "Tanner" as he was up to display his blue GT/CS and parked beside us. I also finally met "Pete" from up at Port Alberni, who has a Candy Apple Red "J" code with automatic. I'd heard of the car, but had never seen it or met the owner until today. There are two very interesting things concerning Pete's GT/CS.
1. Pete's "J" code is only 15 units higher in production than our car when we compared VIN's! (Ours is 161311 and his is 161326)
2. It has the somewhat baffling "recessed gas cap rear panel"! Our car was produced in July and with our VIN's so close together I would assume that they were on the line at the same time, so Pete's GT/CS would most likely be a July production car. This makes it very late for this "early production" recessed gas cap on the rear panel. As far as he knows this is the original rear panel on his car. Do you think that the fact that our car is "S" code and his is "J" code would make any great amount of difference on production dates? (Pete didn't have a Marti report on this car with him, so we're not sure of the actual production date that it might list.)
3. It also turns out that Pete was the original purchaser of the elusive Highland Green "S" code 390 w/ 4 speed GT/CS that is now in Victoria and undergoing restoration right now! He still has the original bill of sale, a receipt from the dealership, and the original warranty card too. He bought the car new from a dealership in Nanaimo in 1968 and later sold the car. It has "lived" in Port Hardy and Port McNeil (both here on Vancouver Island) He had been trying to track it down to buy it back, but the car's owner up in Port Hardy refused to sell it. Sometime later it was sold though and went down to Port McNeil where it sat for several years. That owner sold it to the fellow down here in Victoria before Pete could track it down. Small world ...
Anyway, here are some photos of the recessed gas cap and rear panel on Pete's car that I shot today.
The mystery continues ...???
 

Attachments

  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 010.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 010.jpg
    80.7 KB · Views: 49
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 011.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 011.jpg
    82.6 KB · Views: 39
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 012.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 012.jpg
    85.1 KB · Views: 42
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 013.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 013.jpg
    84.8 KB · Views: 39
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 014.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 014.jpg
    46.9 KB · Views: 30
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 018.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 018.jpg
    75.9 KB · Views: 36
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 019.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 019.jpg
    60.7 KB · Views: 44
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 017.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 017.jpg
    58.8 KB · Views: 43
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 096.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 096.jpg
    69 KB · Views: 36
  • Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 015.jpg
    Ford Spring Spectacular in Parksville May 29th 2011 015.jpg
    57.7 KB · Views: 39

390cs68rcode

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
2,864
Location
Houston Texas
well if this car's VIN is 161XXX and has a recessed cap it means there are repro panels out there or some kind of repair part that causes this. There is no way this is a debut car.
 

GT/CS S Code

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
912
Location
Victoria, B.C., Canada
By the way ...

By the way, I forgot to mention that Pete said he replaced the gas tank on his car this year too, and when he went to install the new replacement filler spout it was too long to match up and wouldn't fit properly. In the end he had to use his original filler spout for it to match up correctly ...
 

whodat

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
635
The new december issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines mentions The Mustang GT/CS Recognition Guide and Owner's Manual on page 12 of Speedobilia.
 

nates68

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
169
Did anyone else get a window decal in place of the DVD ? Just got one from Paul with a letter . No DVD cost to much.

nates68
 

Russ

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
393
Location
Flagstaff, AZ
Sticker

I got three stickers in place of the DVD (!) and Paul's explanation was that a DVD cost too much. I thought that buying a "pre-sale" book included a DVD. I guess I was wrong.

Russ
 

whodat

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
635
I went ahead and ordered one for myself. I figured out of 2000 where would you get a used one. I received number 1202. I opened it and looked at the first 200 and to my surprise came across my vin #. The PO must have registered the car. This was a great birthday present. So I have the registry and my car is in it.
 

nates68

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
169
Russ, got to ask why did you get 3 stickers . I only got one an no DVD. LOL


nate
 

GT/CS S Code

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
912
Location
Victoria, B.C., Canada
Two window decals ...

Russ, got to ask why did you get 3 stickers . I only got one an no DVD.

Yep, same here. I just got a letter of apology saying that the DVD was too costly to produce and include with the books, and since I ordered two copies of the book I was sent two decals ... one for each book purchased. He didn't say whether he would still be producing the DVD for sale as a separate entity, so I wonder if that might still be coming at an extra cost?
:confused:
 

68 special

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
524
Got the same letter saying the dvd's were to expensive along with another decal for a total of 3. The decal was compensation for the dvd. Dvd would've been nice, but I still enjoy the book a lot.

Bret
 
Top