Getaway from Stockholm

I started browsing swedish websites for cars for sale and soon found one which matched my criteria. Except for the engine which was 6 cylinder 200. The car had a nice looking price tag, so I called the owner.

The seller told me honestly about the car. It did not have power top, power brakes or power-anything. The convertible top needed to be replaced and the condition of the floor pans was not good. The car had been fixed and painted poorly in the US before the seller imported it to Sweden. I didn't have to check VIN to discover that this was not one of the collectors' most wanted Mustangs. However, the car was registered and inspected in Sweden, so it could legally be driven in Finland as well. At least for one summer. We agreed on the price and I decided to buy it. I booked tickets for a ferry to Sweden and a trailer from Stockholm to haul it to the ferry harbour.

There she stood (ironically parked on the place for the handicapped). Just like the seller mentioned "looks good from distance of ten meters". I took a short ride around the block, removed the swedish plates, drove it on the trailer and fifteen minutes later we were on our way back home.

We had "some difficulties with the brakes of the trailer" so we ended up with leaving the trailer to the sidestreet in Stockholm and driving the un-insured, un-plated Mustang with leaking top and malfunctioning heater and blower to the ferry and over the border without no-one asking a question.

Now the car was safely in the ferry and we could get away from Stockholm.

A couple of words for the start

I always dreamt of having an american classic of my own - no matter what make or model - but the right time to start the hobby never came. A couple of years ago I had my house built, kids old enough to have some time of my own in the evenings. My middle-aged friends already had their dream-cars and were pushing me to buy myself a Corvette or some other toy. But I did not want to share their dream.

No, I had to have something else, something that no-one I knew would have. I decided to go for a Mustang and it had to be a convertible. I set some other specs too: model year early '65-'68, V8 engine, automatic gearbox, red paint, not a show car but a daily driver...

I got to know a guy who is a long-time Mustang-hobbyist and knows a lot of people in the local club. He promised to help me to find one. Easier said than done. After two years of searching, I still had no pony in the garage.

Thus the increased amount of Mustangs imported from US, the convertibles are owned by enthusiastics who do not sell the cars in the first place when they need money. Or if they do, they want a lot of it. It was time to take a look overseas...