Red Letter Day

This stunning scarlet Mustang is our Footman James Car of the Year. It’s remarkable in lots of ways, but most surprising of all is that its owner is a novice on the show circuit – she bought this car to drive…

- Nigel Boothman

Ask an experienced concours competitor how to find consistent success with a car and you might expect any number of tips about cleaning products, carnauba wax, presentation or attention to detail. But what they actually say is this: make sure the car is done properly to start with, and then you don’t have much to worry about. Just keep it up to standard. That’s fine in theory, but finding either a perfect original survivor or (more usually) an expert restoration is easier said than done. That’s why many of the people who show cars at major events have overseen the restoration themselves, or even performed their own work. Very few of them have gone looking for a nice car in which to take the kids out on sunny days and come back with a potential show-winner. 

But that’s exactly what’s happened to Laura Meeks. Her husband, Ross, bought a 1967 A-code Mustang fastback to restore four years ago, which inspired Laura’s interest in something similar. But there were conditions that needed to be met. “I wanted one to drive, not restore,” says Laura. “We both did. Ross didn’t really need another project car and we wanted to get out and enjoy ourselves.”

This was in late 2015, when Ross’s restoration was already a couple of years in. Laura loved the fastback ’67 shape but fancied a bit more muscle (we like her already!), so she settled on hunting for a 390… the big-block version made famous in Highland Green GT form by a certain Mr McQueen. “I can handle it,” says Laura. “I’m a farmer’s daughter and I’m used to driving all sorts of things.”