To be honest, 2000's Gone in 60 Seconds was not Academy Award-winning movie-making. Was it movie-making at its worst? We'll let you decide. One thing we're sure about, however, is that the biggest star in the movie is a '67 Mustang fastback that goes by the name of Eleanor.
Loyal Mustang Monthly readers with a sharp memory will recall our in-depth look at the Eleanor Mustangs in our November 2000 issue. Back then, the movie was in theaters and the buzz was big in Mustang circles. Trouble was, while the car looked slick, it didn't do much good for those who wanted to make one of their own. Now, two years later, the solution is at hand. If you've dreamed of building your own version of Eleanor and have the '67 or '68 fastback needed to get the project underway, you're in luck. Of course, procuring said '67-'68 fastback is also an easy thing.
CVS And The Lady In GrayThe biggest visual hurdles in creating an Eleanor clone were the body panels. The company mainly responsible for making the cars for the movie-Cinema Vehicle Services-is offering the panels in a complete body kit. You can now turn any '67 or '68 fastback into an Eleanor look-alike using the panels and other components like the wheels and front lights. Our purpose here is to do more than just show you one of the cars that CVS has in its stable; we want to show what it takes to make a car look exactly like the ones you see in the movie.
You can install the kit on any '67 or '68 Mustang. We know of a convertible version being built and we suppose a hardtop would also look good. So, hardtop, convert, or fastback-any '67-'68 Mustang would be one trick Pony with the Eleanor touch. Finally, the kit won't work with any other year Mustang-it's '67 or '68 only. If you build one, send us photos for our Readers' Album section. We'd love to see the fruits of your time and effort.
Eleanor By The NumbersThe meat and potatoes of an Eleanor Mustang is the body kit available from CVS. We cover that in detail in the second part of this story, but first we'll go over the outside of the car. The car shown here was graciously pulled out of mothballs by CVS owner Ray Claridge and provided to us by one of CVS's main men, Josh Hancock-he's also the guy driving on the cover. What follows is a photo essay of what an Eleanor Mustang consists of and what you'll need to duplicate one for yourself. There's a lot to discuss here so let's get to it.
The CarFor the record, all the cars in the movie were '67 fastbacks that CVS found by searching classified ads. None of them were actual Shelbys, although a '67 GT500 served as the foundation for Eleanor. Just so we're clear on this, you can use a '68 fastback if you don't mind the side marker lights. A hardtop or convertible would, of course, also look cool with the Eleanor treatment, but don't expect true Eleanor status unless the car is a fastback.
Eleanor Paint Codes And Light InformationBesides the body kit, you'll need to know the correct paint brand, codes, and the PIAA lights to procure. For more on the PIAA lights, check out www.piaa.com.
Paint Codes
Body: Pepper Grey Metallic-Dupont Fleet 44490 Stripes: Black Metallic-Dupont Fleet 44435Light Info
PIAA 959, PN 9593 (small lights in headlamp panel) PIAA PK 348E, PN 8360 (large lights in center of valance) PIAA 4060 (replacement headlamps) PIAA PN 1252, 1200 Series clear driving (small lights in lower valance, also used as reverse lights)