I am the proud owner of this very slick 1965 two-door
hardtop. The car is a 289 4-speed bench seat car. Here is the history of the
car:
My uncle special ordered the car new in 1965 through what used to be the
Gainesville Ford Co. Inc, 684 Main Street, Gainesville Ga. He drove the car as a
daily driver until 1974. When he decided to get a truck, he sold the car to my
father. The neighbors found out that my father had bought the car, so they
started trying to buy it from him. My father was afraid something would happen
to it, so he parked the car after driving it for only one week.
People would come by and try to buy the car, but my father would not sell it. My father finally got tired of people trying to buy the car, so in the fall of 1976, we pushed the car behind the house, and covered it up with a tarp. When I got old enough to drive, I kept trying to buy the car, but my father would not sell it to me.
In 1990, after winning a bowling tournament, I went straight to my father’s house and offered him my complete winnings of one thousand dollars, and to my surprise, he accepted the offer. I went around to the back of the house and uncovered the car. After doing a quick tune up, and rebuilding the wheel cylinders, I installed a new battery and some gas and fired it up for the first time in 14 years. I then bought 4 new tires and drove the car as a daily driver for a few years. In 1994 I began to take the chrome off. I worked on the car on and off until 2000. In 2000, I got serious and spent every moment I could on the car. I took the engine and had it professionally rebuilt. My first cousin, John Browning, did the paint and body, and Billy Truelove did the interior. I took all of the side windows out and had all of the frames rechromed, along with the original bumpers, shifter, and everything else that needed re-chroming. All of the original stainless was re-polished. I bought a NOS grill, and a NOS trunk piece from Melvin’s, that put the finishing touches on the exterior.
There is too much to list, but I can tell you, if the car needed it, it got it. Top to bottom, inside and out. I would like to thank all of the people that helped me on this car. I would especially like to thank my brother, Justin for all of his help. A special thanks to my wife Torina, who did not understand why I had to have all of the new pieces, but she let me get them anyway.
The history of the car makes it more special to me. I have all the original paper work from when it was purchased new. I have enjoyed driving it around and showing it off at local car shows and cruse-ins.
