BLUE SKY HIGH

THIS CALIFORNIA-STYLE MUSTANG CRUISER WAS RESCUED FROM A RUSTY DEMISE AND NOW HIDES A BOOSTED AUSSIE HEART

- TAS MCMILLAN

MATT Roberts had his first encounter with an early Mustang as a wide-eyed apprentice mechanic. “I had to drive a ’66 GT coupe into the workshop, and I thought it was such a nice car. I’ve wanted one ever since,” he says. More than 20 years later, Matt has realised that dream and taken it quite a few steps further, turning this 1967 Mustang convertible into much more than just a nice resto.

This isn’t Matt’s first rodeo. He’s done a wide variety of engine conversions for other people, and even piloted a Mk1 Escort pano with a nitrous-huffing 202 and big tubs back in the day. But it wasn’t until 2016 that he decided it to revisit his desire for a Blue Oval pony car.

“I was originally looking for a coupe, but this convertible came up on eBay and my wife Tina said, ‘Put in a bid; let’s see what happens,’” Matt says.

The ’Stang arrived on a tilt-tray from Adelaide, but it was immediately apparent that what had been described as a car with “the usual rust spots” was, in fact, a Windsor-powered colander. “My brother gave me shit for buying a compliance plate, not a car, and he wasn’t far wrong!” Matt laughs.

Matt knuckled down and spent the next three years crafting the bright blue cruiser you see before you. The first job was to replace all the rusty tin with fresh metal, and it would be quicker to list the parts of the body that weren’t consigned to the scrap bin. While he was in there, Matt replaced the entire front suspension with a Heidts Mustang 2 weld-in jobby for much-improved handling and a substantial increase in engine bay real estate.