When Nelson began the tedious process of putting this car back together, there were all kinds of challenges. The greatest was finding parts unique to the car, such as the Grand stripes. Nelson found a set of new-old-stock stripes still in the box. Euphoria was followed by feelings of discouragement when he discovered some of the kit was missing. Ken Sousa was able to duplicate the stripes in his shop, getting Nelson on the road to an authentic restoration. It was also a monumental challenge to recreate the Grand's original Hopsack cloth upholstery, which had to be custom-made by Super Auto Upholstery. Nelson continues to search for the correct hood insulation blanket unique to the Grand.
These are the Mustangs that mess with our imaginations because they aren't mainstream like a Cobra Jet Mach 1 or a 302 convertible. They combine options and components that were normally never ordered together. For Nelson, that's incentive enough to keep this CJ Grand for a lifetime.
'69 CJ Grand Facts
- Only 37 built
- 28 had automatic transmission
- Only one was a Drag Pack car with four-speed and Tu-Tone hood treatment
- None were R-code with ram air
- Two were Lime Gold
- This is the only one with Power Ventilation
Information Courtesy Kevin Marti of Marti Auto Works, 623/925-2558, www.martiauto.com.
Mustang Snapshot
- '69 Mustang Grand Hardtop
- 428-4V Cobra Jet
- C6 Select-Shift automatic transmission
- 3.50:1 Traction-Lok, 28-spline axles
- Power front disc brakes
- Power Steering
- 14x6-inch steel wheels with wire-style wheel covers
- F70x14 Firestone Wide Oval bias-belted tires
- Black Hopsack cloth interior
- Power Ventilation (rare option and only without air conditioning)
- AM/FM stereo radio
- California car originally sold in the San Jose sales district