1967 Ford Mustang Fastback - Homebuilt Eleanor

Glenn Gatley remembers walking out of the theater after viewing the 2000remake of Gone in 60 Seconds and promising his wife, "I'm going to own aMustang like that one of these days."

Like many movie-goers, Mustang enthusiasts and non-Mustang enthusiastsalike, Glenn was more impressed with the Mustang than the movie. ThePepper Grey Metallic '67 fastback, named Eleanor and modified to looklike a Shelby GT500 on steroids, stole the show from its more eliteautomotive co-stars and went on to become a cult item all its own, muchlike the Highland Green '68 fastback in the movie Bullitt and the '73Mustang fastback from 1975's original version of Gone in 60 Seconds.Heck, Eleanor even overshadowed human stars Nicholas Cage and AngelinaJolie.

But unlike most, Glenn took the initiative to learn more about themovie's macho car-star. Within two weeks of seeing the movie, he hadtracked down Eleanor's builder, Cinema Vehicle Services in NorthHollywood, to find out how he could get the parts to convert his '67Mustang fastback into an Eleanor look-alike.

"I spoke with the owner, Ray Claridge," Glenn tells us. "At the time,CVS was not selling the parts publicly, and Ray was handling the salehimself as his own side project. He wasn't sure if there was going to bea demand for the kits, and told me that he would only make the kits aslong as he thought there was a market for them. I bought the first kithe ever sold."

As it turns out, Glenn wasn't alone in the quest to build an Eleanorreplica. His call to CVS was the first of many. So many, in fact, thatCVS eventually stepped away from its normal business of building andsupplying movie cars to offer the complete Eleanor body kit, just likethe ones used to create Eleanor in the film. Claridge says he's soldapproximately 140 kits, nearly half going outside the U.S. They arestill available today.

Obtaining the Eleanor body parts cleared the way for the rest of thebuild, and Glenn went to work on the details. He studied the Gone in 60Seconds DVD, frame by frame, in an effort to visually re-create an exactEleanor look-alike, noting the nitrous switch, side mirrors, C-pillarpop-open gas cap, and other unique parts. He studied magazine articles,including the November 2000 issue of Mustang Monthly, which provided

information about the building of the 11 stunt-car Eleanors used in themovie, and searched the Internet for photos and info.

Then he started gathering parts, like the Cougar taillights and PIAAlights, plus Shelby trunk lid/rear quarter extensions, '71-'73 Mach 1gas cap, GT500 emblems, Shelby bullet side mirrors, and deluxe interiorfrom Mustang parts vendors. For wheels, Glenn special-ordered a set ofsilver GT40-style wheels from PS Engineering. He estimates he spent$20,000 for the parts--$5,000 alone for the CVS body kit and another$15,000 for the rest of the required components, which tallied upquickly with high-priced components like the wheels ($1,700), PIAAlights ($1,300), Shelby decklid and quarter-panel extensions ($600), andused Cougar taillights ($300).

Glenn's goal was to build an accurate Eleanor look-alike, not an exactEleanor clone with all the Total Control suspension bits. He wanted toturn heads on the street and show field, not jump bridges. He alsodecided to keep his automatic transmission instead of swapping to a moremovie-like four-speed.

The Eleanor build started in earnest when Glenn delivered his '67Mustang fastback to James McHugh's Auto Restorations shop in Ft.Lauderdale. James installed the CVS body kit, with only minormodifications required for the headlight buckets to get them to fitproperly. He spliced a section of fuel-filler sheetmetal from an '86Dodge Caravan into the driver-side C-pillar to obtain the recessed areafor the dummy gas cap. James' crew then applied the DuPont Pepper GreyMetallic paint and Black Metallic stripes.

The side exhaust posed its own set of problems. Borla's side-exhaustmufflers, with the inlet and outlet at the same end, were a perfect fit,but because the openings in the CVS rocker panels were positioned soclose to the car's actual rocker panels, snaking the exhaust tips under,up, and through proved to be a tough assignment. The dual tips providedwith the CVS kit differed from the movie cars' oval tips anyway, soGlenn convinced Classic Design Concepts to sell him just the tips fromits late-model Mustang side-exhaust kit. The tips were then modified bya local exhaust shop to fit the '67.

From there, the Mustang's standard interior was converted to Shelby-likeDeluxe, including the GT500 emblem above the glovebox door and awood-rim steering wheel from Tony Branda. Two prominently featured itemsfrom the movie include the Total Control aluminum pedal covers andnitrous switch. Although not part of the movie cars, Glenn built atranny tunnel-mounted box to provide a mounting location for three AutoMeter gauges (voltage, oil pressure, and water temperature), and fivetoggle switches to operate the PIAA lights.

Although he left the 289 engine untouched, it's not a slouch by anymeans. The rebuilt small-block has been enhanced with ported andpolished heads, Edelbrock intake, 750-cfm Holley four-barrel, mildstreet cam, and Hooker headers.

While Glenn's look-alike Eleanor doesn't necessarily fall into thebudget category, so to speak, it's definitely a low-buck approach forgetting the Eleanor look. Anyone can use the car as a blueprint forbuilding their own, with the option of adding the Total Controlsuspension, high-performance engine, and four-speed to make the carperform as good as it looks.

Many people have dreamed about owning an Eleanor Mustang. Throughresearch, diligence, and a modest out-lay of cash, Glenn Gatley madegood on his promise.

Homebuilt Eleanor Parts List '67-'68 Mustang Fastback

* CVS Eleanor body kit (headlight bezels, billet aluminumupper and lower grilles, front lower valance, hood, front fender flares, rear fender flares, side-exhaust skirts, exhausttips, upper side scoops, lower side scoops, taillamp panel)

* Shelby-style trunk lid and rear quarter extensions

* '67 Cougar taillamp lenses and buckets

* Shelby-style bullet side mirrors

* '71-'73 Mach 1 pop-open gas cap

* PS Engineering 17x8 wheels

* 245/40x17 Falken tires

* '67 Deluxe Interior

* Wood steering wheel

* PIAA lights; PIAA 4060 (headlights); PIAA 959, PN 9593 (smalllights in head-lamp panel) PIAA PK 348E, PN 8360 (large lights in centerof valance); PIAA PN 1252 clear driving (small lights in lowervalance and backup lights)

* Paint: Pepper Grey Metallic, Dupont Fleet 44490 (body), BlackMetallic, DuPont Fleet 44435 (stripes)

* Shelby GT500 emblems for glovebox, front fenders, and rearpanel

* Total Control aluminum pedal covers

* Nitrous switch

* Borla side-exhaust mufflers and modified Classic DesignConcepts tips