I’ve really learned some crazy crap about my Mustang in the past month.
My dad and I owned a lot of Mustangs, mostly Fastbacks and mostly S-code 390 cars. His 67 that Paul painted in the mid-80s was a J-code car with a swapped in 351 4v Cleveland. My dad also had a 71 Mach 1, 429SCJ Drag-pack car.
The S-code car currently in my garage was a 67 GTA, deluxe interior, A/C car, Wimbledon White with red interior. My dad bought it for $900 in the mid-80s. He also had an Orange 68 390, 4-speed car. He sold the Orange car to my now brother-in-law that later married my sister. Mike got in a bind and sold the Orange car back to my dad. I was early 20s and started making payments to my dad for the 68 Fastback. Damn this is a long story.
The 68 was hit in the left rear and repaired but the unibody frame above the left rear wheel was kinked. Whoever repaired the car didn’t pull the unibody kink out, leaving the car 1” lower in the left rear corner. Looking at the car, it always bothered me.
Somewhere in the late 80s, my dad’s white 67 GTA was stolen and stripped. He was able to recover the salvage but there was nothing left but a shell. The 67 and 68 bodies are the same except for a marker reflector on the rear quarter and a marker light on the lower front fender (interior was also different.) I wanted my dad’s salvaged shell because my car was quartered and repaired and the 67 was never hit. I wound up getting the 67 shell from my dad (and never paid him for it
) I swapped everything from my 68 onto the pristine 67 when I was in my mid 20s, simply because my 68 was hit and quarter-paneled.
I always wondered why my 68 was Orange. That color was never available from the factory in 68. It was close to Grabber Orange but clearly had more red in the color. It wasn’t a repaint because everything in the jambs and behind the fenders was one coat of orange.
In the past few years I learned of a promotional program only available on the west coast. It was called the Rainbow of Colors, where certain vehicles could be special ordered from west coast dealers with colors not available from the factory. These cars arrived at the dealers in primer and were dealer painted. The warranty tag on the door did not list an exterior color and the DSO was six digit instead of two, indicating a special order paint scheme. Mustangs in the 60s were built at one of three plants. DSO 71 was Los Angeles.
The left door on my 67 is off of my 68 car and has the VIN (warranty) tag from the 68. The DSO on that tag is 710777, meaning Los Angeles with a special order color of Madagascar Orange. The 68 was an S-code, 390 GT, 4-speed, 325:1 limited-slip rear end 63A Fastback car. It was 1 of 2 that I can tell from the available documentation.
Information on the 1968 Rainbow of Colors West Coast promotional Mustangs
mustangattitude.com
This car is a 67 with 68 doors, fenders and interior. The wire loom for a tach equipped car is different, this car has a factory tach. I’ll build this with an aluminum 427FE and a Tremec 6-speed manual. It will be Madagascar Orange but with Shelby upper and lower scoops and a Shelby deck lid (which the car already has.)
This is what the Rainbow of Colors 68 looked like.
Special order, Los Angeles- Madagascar Orange