Sam's Six Shooter

Professional automobile restorer Sam Weston needed a really cool car project for his daughter. Guess what happened?

- Jim Smart

Fifteen years ago Sam Weston of Northern Utah was looking for a Mustang project for his youngest daughter, something they could work on together. “I had already restored a 1966 hardtop with Sprint package with my oldest daughter years ago. It was great fun. And by the way, I don’t have any sons, but who cares when you have two daughters who love cars? I already had a 1966 hardtop, and a 1966 convertible, so I was looking for a 1966 fastback to complete the set. This 1966 fastback pops up in Crawford, Colorado, on eBay with an asking price of $3,999 with a ‘Buy It Now’ for $4,500,” Sam says. “It was a running car with no rust. Heck, I live in Northern Utah where all the Mustangs from around here are very rusty from winter driving.”

Sam waited out the eBay auction and expected the car to be sold and gone. The auction ended with no bids. “So I emailed the seller and made them an offer of $3,000. Believe it or not, they accepted! Two days later, I was off to Colorado to pick up the car,” Sam says. “Crawford, Colorado, is a very small town, so it wasn’t hard to locate this car. And there it was sitting on the side of the road. For me it was love at first sight. Signalflare Red.

No rust. A fastback. Other than a missing headliner, the interior looked good. And I discovered it had only 47,836 miles on the odometer!” Sam laughs hysterically as he describes the nostalgic experience of walking up to the door. “As we approached the house, it was like going back to the ’60s or ’70s.