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| Rarest of the Ford/Aurora memorabilia. Most of you who know me have come to realize that when it comes to the Ford/Aurora collectibles I am a serious player. My collection is extensive and I devoted an entire chapter in my book to promote the races and giveaways that both Aurora and Ford sponsored. I have several of the winning trophies and have talked at length over the years to each one of the five Ford/Aurora Grand Nationals winners. Several years ago I spoke to the 1965 Grand Nationals winner, John Seeley of South Dakota. He raced on The Mike Douglas show in December of 1965 and won a beautiful trophy and a brand new 1966 Ford Mustang GT Fastback. This was the year of Aurora's Candy Mustang Competition Pac. Two years ago, I paid John a visit and spoke with him in preparation for my book. He made copies of the memorabilia in his boyhood scrapbook and gave them to me. In this paperwork was a letter dated 1995 from a man in South Dakota who had approached John with a proposition. This man, Brian, had bought a '66 Mustang in 1982 and had stored it with the plan to eventually restore it. In the early 90's when Brian was seriously into the restoration phase on the car, his company was relocating him. He had decided to sell the car and had found the original owners manual with John Seeley's name in it. As luck would have it, John's parents still lived in South Dakota. Brian looked them up and got John's phone number and offered him the car. Brian also found out the history of the car from John's parents. It was a grand prize in a slot car race and he was offering it to it's original owner. John was not interested in it at this phase of his life but he kept the letter for posterity. So now I have the letter dated '95 but it's five years old. I call the number and it's out of service. No surprise. I file the letter. Six months later I decide to pull it out again and seriously try to track down this guy. I cold call the last name in South Dakota. On the second try I get Brian's mom. She tells me he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and he took the car with him. She gives me his number. I called him last summer and asked about the car. After explaining who I was and my tie in to Aurora and the car, he tells me he still has it and drives it up and down the strip for fun. I asked if it was for sale and he said, “ no”. I gave my name and number and said to call if it ever became available. Around Christmas, 2000, he calls and says he’s decided to sell the car and asked if I was still interested. I said yes and he sent me some pictures and a life history on the car and it's owners via a title search. After a month of negotiations, I bought the car and am now the proudowner of one of my most prized possessions. The 1965 Ford/Aurora Grand Prize winning car, a 1966 Mustang GT Fastback that was ordered in Candy Apple Red, by John Seeley in March of 1966 loaded with options. I have a lot of work to do to bring this car back to it's original beauty, but as you can see from the photos, I have a lot to work with. The original owner and I are going to go for a drive together some day. Some of the options in the car are a 289 V8 engine with a 4 speed tranny, GT fog lights, optional seat belts, a Rally Pac tach and clock, AM with 8-track, factory air, and styled wheels. With the rear seat folded down, there's plenty of room for slotcars so I can drive it to HO shows. | ||||||||
| Coming Home To Papa | ||||||||
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