Whatever its earliest history, David concludes he is the CJ's third registered owner, an honor he achieved by successfully outbidding the competition in the wee hours of the morning during an eBay online auction in 2003-using a dial-up connection, no less. When the Mustang arrived from Oregon to his central Florida location, it was in solid condition but was sprayed in dark blue with a heavy metalflake, the apparent result of an earlier owner's brother wanting to try out the skills he'd learned in body shop school. That earlier owner, by the way, reportedly received the muscular CJ as a graduation present in 1971 (I think I got cufflinks).
A Ford Senior Master Technician by trade, as well as a longtime fan of the first-edition Cobra Jets (he recently sold a '68½ CJ convertible), David immediately began gathering NOS parts and ultimately sent his R-code GT to Vail's Classic Cars in Indiana for restoration after seeing examples of the company's work at the Mustang 40th Anniversary Celebration in Nashville.
The result is as detailed a '68½ Cobra Jet as you're ever likely to see, and one well equipped to show that these first-year 428s were certainly more than just drag racers.