FLASHBACK MUSTANG

FALLING INLOVE WITH A SEMA SHOW CAR LED TO OWNING ONE VERY SPECIAL MUSTANG, AND A COMPANY

- DAVE MORLEY

Remember the old Remington shaver ads on TV where Victor Kiam tells the world he liked the product so much, he bought the company? A bunch of marketing hoo-hah? Maybe, but it could also be true because the yarn we’re about to share here is a real-world example of how things can get a bit out of hand. Take it from us.

About 20-some years ago, a Melbourne bloke by the name of Peter Papp was making a nice living running a business that was supplying audio gear and car alarm systems to the big fitting mobs. “We were big in doof-doof,” Peter tells us.

As a result of that career path, Peter often found himself in Las Vegas in November for the mega automotive trade-show that is SEMA.

“But this one year, while walking through the millions and millions of cars at SEMA, I bumped into the fella who owned Classic Design Concepts. And on his stand was this very car – Flashback Mustang build-number 2 – along with a bunch of big-wigs from Ford (’cos the car has a Ford Motorsport engine and other bits). By sheer coincidence, they unveiled the car while I was standing there and I just instantly fell in love with the whole concept.”

And it wasn’t just the high-impact colour scheme or the Retro, Bullitt-inspired feel, says Pete. Nor was his crush going to go away.

“The more I looked at it, the more I realised how comprehensive it was. It’s almost a full-blown race car, but it’s a road car. It had all the gear, too: Power seats, power windows, six-speed manual; it’s all custom designed. It’s a beast.

Back home in Melbourne and back to the nine-to-five, Peter just couldn’t stop thinking about the metallic-green Mustang on the SEMA stand. So he listened to his heart and picked up the phone. Many times.