I headed out to The Good Guys show in Pleasenton this weekend and man am I beat from all the walking. Some guys avoid the Good Guys shows specifically because of its size and seemingly genre less requirements. Not me, thats what I like most about them. Brand new Challengers Mustangs and CTSVs next to Nomads, F100s and Customs. It's all here and on display, well almost all, hardly any non American stuff but still, its a pretty wide swath of automotive life styles.
That said I had some specific goals, soak up as many Customs, Lowriders as possible and hang out with the Dead End guys. Leave it to me to somehow miss the Lowrider room! I always look forward to hanging out with the Dead End Guys and they curate the Lowrider room at this show. So you know the Lowriders and Bombs are gonna be impressive! I walked all over hell and gone and I couldn't find the room! I went into several buildings, some I am sure I shouldn't have been in and was at least able to find Steve of the Squires 40 Buick Custom in one of them. Sure I saw it at GNRS and Sac Autorama but with my own 41 Buick Traditional Custom still in progress I am all over any opportunity to soak up details on similarly minded Customs.
I digress, its funny how plans change. While I was still able to find and photograph lots of great cars while walking around. It was shortly after walking in I found what would be my favorite car of the entire show. No matter how far we walked away from it or how strong the draw of the other machinery. She kept pulling me back to her orbit time and time again.
If your reading this, you are aware of my love for the 66 Galaxie, I have owned four of them so far. My green 66 hardtop bagged on supremes, my first car another 66 Galaxie but Convert which I still have. I have also owned a 66 Country squire wagon and another hard top. To say I have a thing for the 66 Galaxie would be a bit of an understatement. Walking into the show tucked back into the shade was a 66 Ford Custom, Old Blue. Oddly the Ford Custom was the most basic model in the line. More or less the same body as the upscale Galaxie and LTD except in the two door Customs. Those got the more formal square roofline similar to the 4 door. These were the full size workhorse version of the Galaxie. To put it another way, Customs were what we would consider today to be fleet style cars, Taxies, cop cars, government cars in general where most likely to be a Ford Custom. As you can imagine, because of their intended lifestyle, finding a clean 2 door Ford Custom is pretty rare. Used as fleet cars are, by people who didn't own them and didn't pay to maintain them. Add to that their under stated utilitarian looks and they weren't exactly sought after by the enthusiast crowd.
This one is the Unicorn. A Ford Custom that was religiously cared for. Not only was it clean as a pin, it was special ordered with the Thunderbird 428 FE 4 barrel engine and matching Automatic trans! An honest to god, special order, factory built, big block Henry powered genuine sleeper. Unless you happened to glance down to the lower front fender emblem, nonchalantly whispering 428, it would be understandable if you didn't give it a second look. Like I said, Sleeper! I have loved this body style since I discovered it shortly after getting my first car back when I was 17. I am much, much older now and this is legitimately the first one with anything more than a 289 I have ever seen in person! My mind was blown. I'm sure I wore a groove in the concrete walking around it. No matter how far I wandered or what other awesome machine happened to be in front of me. Picturing myself quietly cruising along, in Old Blue was all I could think about. The unwashed masses seeing only the unassuming looking "old car". The way I'd act all nonchalant knowing I was holding the reigns of a factory built knuckle dragging bruiser capable of bending time and savagely murdering tires at will... That day dream kept a smile on my face the whole time I was there and for sometime after. Sadly while I waited patiently to meet her owner alas he never came back. Luckily I was able to scrounge up a paper and a pen and left my info.
Fingers crossed!
James
The Lowered HMFIC
