"Tell you what, Ronald. You show up at the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals, and we'll shoot photos of your car for a feature. If this keeps up, there could be a II revolution."
And with those words, our buddy Jeff Ford, the former editor of this fine magazine, did his part by snapping some pretty pictures of Ron and Jeannie David's super-clean '76 Mustang II Cobra. We're holding up our end of the bargain by printing the pictures and some words to go along with them.
Jeff might be right. Mustang IIs are, after all, Mustangs, and what better way to jump-start this revolution of sorts with one of the most original IIs we've seen in quite a while. Sporting its original 302 (a 5.0, no?) two-barrel and a four-speed manual trans, the car was spotted by the Davids in 1999 in Hemmings Motor News.
Jeannie tells the story: "We had been looking for a '76 Cobra II for about two years. We also asked around and told family and friends to keep an eye out for us. One day my brother's friend told him there was an ad for a Cobra II in Hemmings. I called the owner and asked him to send pictures of the car. When I saw them, I knew I just had to see this car in person. The car was in Massachusetts, so my husband and I decided to make the 500-mile round trip to see it. When we got there and saw it sitting in the owner's driveway, that was it-we knew it was coming home with us since the car was in showroom condition. The owner told us it was all original and the first owner kept it in storage for 11 years. He said the first owner had it repainted the original Bright Blue Metallic back in 1981. The only restoration work we've done to the car was having the insulation removed and repainted under the hood."
Finding this car was somewhat like rediscovering a lost love for Jeannie, as she had another Mustang II a few years back. "Back in 1981, I owned a black and gold '76 Cobra II," she says. "Since then, I've always had a special place in my heart for the IIs. When I had to sell that first one in 1986, it was a sad day. I told Ron that some day I was going to find another one, and 13 years later I did."
Now that Ron and Jeannie have found the right II, they've hit the show circuit quite regularly around their homefront in Drums, Pennsylvania. "We've received several awards and recognitions at various shows around the area," says Jeannie. "The most recent award it received was a First Place in class at last year's Carlisle All-Ford Nationals, where we displayed for the first time at that event. It has also taken several First Place trophies at local area shows in Hazleton, Drums, Bloomsburg, Williamsport, and surrounding areas, and was featured on the cover of the Horse Club, the official newsletter of the Mustang Club of New England.
Affectionately known as "Blue Lightning" by the Davids, Ron and Jeannie have clearly paved the way for those to follow in the resurrection of interest in these classic IIs. As long as it's a Mustang, it's good enough for us. And when it's as clean as this 70,000-mile original-all the better.