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Bluebonnet Specials......anyone?

390cs68rcode

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
2,864
Location
Houston Texas
I would like to find some concrete info on the Texas Bluebonnet specials. There was a MM article a few months back about one of these.

anyone?

I would like to find one of these for sale somewhere. I offered a $1000 finders fee for my 390 CS so I am offering a $500 finders fee for one of these that I can and do purchase.
 
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390cs68rcode

390cs68rcode

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
2,864
Location
Houston Texas
here is what I have found so far.

Bluebonnet Special
Ford called it the Lone Star Limited, but in Texas it was known as the Bluebonnet Special Mustang

By Jerry Heasley
Photography: Jerry Heasley


It's not easy being green. It could be even tougher being Bluebonnet Blue if you're an early Mustang collector and historian like Don Smith. By day, Don works at Ford Country, a new-car dealership in Lewisville, Texas, north of Ft. Worth. For much of the last year, he's been gathering information on Bluebonnet Special Mustangs.

The saga began when Don went hunting for a car for his nephew. He ran into a history dig in the form of a '67 Mustang hardtop with a DSO of 61, followed by the digits 5160. The coupe was a basket case. Don recalls, "Ray Coleman was going to fix it up and paint it 'Resell Red.' "

Coleman restores Mustangs and figured, by the extended DSO, there was some history. He suggested Don might be interested. Coleman knew the project would take a purist like his friend Don. Thankfully, all the parts were there, and the two negotiated a price. Don recalls, "I ran the VIN and started getting with my guys at Ford. I found out it was a special-edition Mustang Ford called a Lone Star Limited. The more popular term for this car is Bluebonnet Special.

Luckily, the original data plate was intact. The paint code was blank, signifying a special-order color. Immediately, Don started searching for original paint, and he discovered a shade of original light blue, a match for the Texas state flower, the bluebonnet. He had something special here, for sure.

The problem with resotring a Bluebonnet Special has been finding original fender badges. Five Star Ford's Vic Lea saved the day when he contacted Don about some original badges he had from when the cars first came out.

"Mustang sales were a little soft in the winter of 1966-1967 in this area, so Ford wanted to boost them. And Texas Ford dealers were complaining because California got the California Special."

Actually, California had their California Special starting in 1966, as did Colorado with the High Country Special. In response, the next year Ford produced a special Mustang for the Texas market. "Ford said, 'We'll give you a Lone Star Limited, painted a unique color with special badges on it. And we'll deliver them to the Depot, the actual Dallas hub.' "

Don got lucky in the restoration. To date, the sticking point when restoring a Bluebonnet Special has been obtaining the original fender badges. Out of the blue, Don got a call from Vic Lea, an employee of Five Star Ford in nearby Carrollton. Lea, who has been selling new Fords since 1962, attended the "drive-away" and barbecue at the Depot on that spring day in 1967 when the Bluebonnet Specials were introduced. Incredibly, Lea had squirreled away four original badges.
 
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390cs68rcode

390cs68rcode

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
2,864
Location
Houston Texas
continued

Bluebonnet Special (cont.)

We called Five Star Ford to visit with Vic Lea about the introduction of the Bluebonnet Specials. In 1968, he worked at Horn-Williams Ford, where he was the top-selling Shelby Cobra salesman. He remembered "introducing that little car down there," referring to the barbecue at the Depot in Dallas. "It was a promotional thing for the bluebonnets that were beginning to bloom. The cars were shipped to the Depot because they invited dealers from all over the area."



Lea remembers the cars already had the gold "Lone Star Limited" badges affixed to their front fenders. Also, the dealer nameplates were on the cars, so they were already assigned to dealerships in various parts of the state. The cars were all coupes, Vic remembers, and all the same color with the same blue interior.


Don Smith's '67 Bluebonnet Special doesn't need overhauling, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to photograph Courtney Hansen, from TLC's popular Overhaulin' TV show, with the blue Texas hardtop. Both Courtney and the Bluebonnet Special were in attendance at an event at Unique Performance.
Lea worked for Kenray Ford at the time. "I think we got a total of three. We were due to get two, but somebody didn't show up so they offered us the third one." Lea sold one of the three right off the showroom floor.

Basically, a Bluebonnet Special is a special-order-paint '67 coupe with a Texas-shaped badge reading "Lone Star Limited." Don retrieved a copy of the original window sticker from Ford, which listed the "Sports Sprint" option: wheel covers, chrome-plated air cleaner, rocker-panel molding, functional louvered hood, F70-14 wide oval tires, vinyl-covered shift lever (on automatics), and Select-Aire A/C.

Don says the wheel covers were simply the standard variety. However, he went with Styled Steel, fearful somebody might steal the pop-off wheel covers because he and his wife drive the car. Although the Sprint package, as listed on this reproduced window sticker, lists "chrome-plated air cleaner," Don's 289 also has a chrome dress-up kit.

Ford production figures reveal 175 "Lone Star Limiteds painted Bluebonnet Blue." Of these, 173 had "blue standard bucket seats," leaving open to question the interior on the remaining two cars. Also, 131 of the 175 came with air conditioning.


According to the Mustang Production Guide, Volume 2, 1967-73 by Jim Smart and Jim Haskell, engines in the Bluebonnets were either the 200 six or the 289 V-8. According to Don, only "four or five" Bluebonnet Specials have been uncovered. His restoration is the only one with the original badges.

We'd love to see more of these cars surface and be restored. Our suggestion is for owners of '67 coupes to check their data plates for the blank color code and DSO 61-5160. There must be more Bluebonnet Specials out there, as Ford built 175 and only a few have been uncovered. If you find one, please let us know.
 

Mustanglvr

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Messages
3,258
California had the California Special in 1966? Thats got to be wrong.
 

Mustanglvr

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Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Messages
3,258
I have tried to get some sites with wrong info to change it but they ignore me. One site that seemed to know alot about these cars were saying there were 251 GT/CS`s produced in 1968 and 4118 Shelby`s. They were all messed up. I`m glad I found this site where things like that can get cleared up. Its too bad there is alot of misinformation out there though. Rhonda
 

meadowsdk28

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
172
Location
Martinsville, IN
Hey, I know this car. Whoo Hoo! My one and only delving into the Meadows Auto Brokerage Company. One transaction-$500. 1995. A captain admired my HCS in Colorado Springs and wanted to know if I knew of any Mustangs for sale. I was always looking and I found him one. It was a really straight 67 coupe. The data plate was missing the paint code. It was a robin egg blue with a black vinyl top. GT wheels and GT options. It had a big block 390 with chrome valve covers. It even had an overhead console. It was a great looking car. I did the research (maybe even from the article posted, maybe an earlier one) found it to be a Blue bonnet and made the deal. Really thought I had found my new career then the Army decided I would be better served as a Recruiter. Darn!
 

Jbarrows

New member
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Messages
1
Where is Vic Lea

I need to get ahold of him I wanna ask him some questions.

We found one of these cars and need some information about them.

You can have him call us at 512-573-9178 or email john@jdbarrows.com
 

68 special

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
524
Jason,

found this online from 2015, but who knows, might still have it if the email is still good.

SMMiller
Jan 21, 2015




I just bought a 1967 Ford Mustang in great shape with Ser. # 7F01T179497 And the DSO 61-5036 It's blue with a Lone Star Limited badge on both sides. I have a MartiAutoWorks report that tells me it was a special promotion car and was sold at a Ford dealership in Waco TX. What could sometime like this worth? 6 cyl. Rims are not factory. With original window sticker. very clean and runs great. email 163501@msn.com

Good luck,
Bret
 

hcsstang

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Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
726
Location
Gettysburg, Pa.
Years ago at the Carlisle Mustang show.When you got in they gave you a program. In the program they have a of the name of special listed. I was surprised at the amount of car names. I never heard of a them.. I wanted to save it but my wife had a better idea. The one that I remember had vinyl top and it had a fancy designed in the top.
 

stangfan

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
1,840
Location
Victoria BC Canada
I have a book with a section on these cars. Mustang Special Editions by Brad Bowling and Jerry Heasley. There are two pages of info and pictures.
 
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