It has often been said that good things come to those who wait. What other choice is there besides giving up?

Sanding every groove and body seam on a '67 Mustang fastback was physical therapy for Brook Phillips. He calls his Pit Viper project "a rehab deal."

The past three years have been tough for the SVT Owners Association. Originally created, supported, and operated by Ford, the club ran into turmoil in 2005 when Ford began to dismantle its dealer-funded SVT marketing operation. Since then, the SVTOA has struggled to remain intact as it was handed off to other entities, both inside and outside of Ford.

The past three years have been tough for the SVT Owners Association. Originally created, supported, and operated by Ford, the club ran into turmoil in 2005 when Ford began to dismantle its dealer-funded SVT marketing operation. Since then, the SVTOA has struggled to remain intact as it was handed off to other entities, both inside and outside of Ford.

To read the books and magazines, including this one, while at the same time marveling at the prices from Barrett-Jackson, one would almost think that the majority of Mustangs produced from 1969 to 1973 came with Boss or Cobra Jet engines. Yet while performance-oriented Mustangs captured the hearts and wallets of enthusiasts, as they still do today, it was the hardtop and SportsRoof models, most with base six-cylinders or two-barrel small-blocks, that were parked in driveways and garages across America. For example, in 1969, less than 1 percent of all Mustangs produced had a Boss or 428 Cobra Jet engine. All the others came with regular passenger-car engines.

When buying a Mustang, have you ever settled for less than you wanted but ultimately discovered more than you expected? That's how George Parker's story goes. In the beginning, it was just an old Mustang.

Ben Cole was "just looking for a fastback, any fastback," adding, "I was going to build an Eleanor or something like that."

There is a wicked smile on Dominic Greco's bearded face as he asks, "Want me to do a burnout?"

No matter how tire-shreddingly fast the new GT500KR is, with 0-60 mph times in the low-4-second range and e.t.'s through the quarter-mile right at 12 seconds, the Shelby legacy is what really causes the stir. Ford could build a 540hp Mustang supercar, but only Shelby can build a Shelby.

Neil Bell isn't a bragger-he just likes nice cars. And he didn't seek us out during the Northwest Mustang Roundup near Seattle-we went looking for him in order to share his pristine '70 Cobra Jet Mach 1 with our readers.

Lopez Island, Washington, is home to approximately 2,200 people. The enchanting little island outside of Seattle has roots dating back 9,000 years, according to The Lopez Island Historical Society. As recently as 3,000 years ago, there was quite a family network in place with a big interest in boating (naturally), fishing, and hunting. Europeans first arrived on the island 400 years ago, drawn by the same interest in maritime activities and a passion for nature.

We can all thank Kevin Marti's mom for an "accident" that sent her son down the path to obtaining Ford's '67-and-later production data and providing us with the Marti Reports. Those coveted sheets of paper tell us if a special Mustang is real or fake, how many were made, what options were on the car when it was built, and a myriad of other facts and figures. Today, the term "Marti Report" has become part of the Mustang vocabulary. You see them displayed in show-car windows, and buyers of high-dollar Mustangs use them to document a potential buy before putting down a deposit. You even hear about them during Speed's coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auction.

Jeff and Robin Billings are good examples of being true to your school. Both are Florida State University graduates, and both continue to be nuts about the Florida State University Seminoles, whose mascot is Chief Osceola and his horse, Renegade. If you follow college football, you know FSU has a long-standing tradition where Chief Osceola charges down the field on Renegade and thrusts his flaming spear into the turf at the start of every game.

As an Mustang Club of America National Head Judge of exceptional integrity with more than four decades of Mustang experience, Wally Short and his wife, Janice, have been having a ball with Mustangs since Lyndon Johnson was president.

Carroll Shelby is a certified legend, not only within our Mustang universe where he is the top celebrity, but also within the racing community and the automotive genre as a whole. Among his many accomplishments, he was a successful race car driver in the '50s, created the legendary Cobra in 1962, turned Mustangs into GT350 and GT500 musclecars from 1965 to 1969, and won LeMans as a team owner in 1966 and 1967. That's not a bad resume, even if you don't count his days with Chrysler in the '80s and what he's doing today, including his renewed relationship with Ford to build GT500s and with Shelby Automobiles, a thriving company that churns out Shelby GTs, GT500KRs and Super Snakes, CSX Series Cobras, and a line of performance parts for new Mustangs. That doesn't include the fact that, at 85, he's the oldest surviving double-transplant patient, having received a heart in 1990 and a kidney in 1996.

Scott Robinson has long had a thing for Saleen Mustangs. To be more specific, he always wanted a Fox-body Saleen coupe, commonly called a notchback. With less weight than hatchbacks and convertibles, coupes tend to be all business. The huge majority of Saleen Mustangs were the swoopier hatchbacks and sportier convertibles, but a handful left the Saleen production facility as lighter-weight coupes between model years 1985 and 1993.

Without a doubt, Arild Thu's '68 Shelby convertible has a story to tell, yet we admit to not knowing all of it. Such is often par for the course when it comes to 40-year-old collector cars, but we're inclined to believe that we know the best part of the tale, which begins when Arild stumbled upon the car on eBay on New Year's Eve in 2001. Is it necessary to explain that, at the time, the car hardly resembled the glorious red "King of the Road" spread across these pages? Yep-it looked like the proverbial heap, yet Arild was wise enough to see a diamond in the rough.

Dan Barbee vividly recalls the anticipation of returning home from Vietnam. While serving in the late '60s, his thoughts and dreams were that of home-and the new '69 Mustang Mach 1. It teased him from magazine and newspaper ads. Armed Forces Radio spoke of its slippery lines and powerful lineup of V-8 engines.

Mike Roate will never forget 1984, the year he bought his Medium Canyon Red Glow GT convertible. After years of dishwater-dull Mustang performance, the '84 GT was a refreshing step in the right direction as Mike drove off North Central Ford's lot in Dallas. The top went down. It had the throaty bark of a V-8 engine and handled like it was on rails. Mike had a ball with his convertible for 11 years but sold it in 1995 to get his wife started in college. He wasn't thinking about his '84 becoming a classic one day. After selling it, however, he couldn't stop thinking about his old Mustang convertible.

We'd have to say that it was an understatement when Lonny Dubay described the "before" condition of his '64 1/2 convertible as "needing help." The photos taken when Lonny hauled the forlorn Mustang out of his father's storage yard reveal what he started with. To some, the car would be best described as a prime candidate for the scrap yard or crusher. The Poppy Red paint was faded. The convertible top was ripped in numerous places, allowing rain, leaves, and debris into the interior. Nearly every body panel showed signs of rust or denting. The tires were flat, the chrome was pitted and twisted, and the upholstery was literally falling apart. The car needed more than help.

Those among us who are students of history, or those who can personally recall the '60s, clearly understand how the domestic auto industry has changed through the decades. No, we're not talking about the current market challenges or the struggles for existence that many brands have encountered in the last 10-15 years. Rather, we're speaking of the variety of products offered by corporate siblings-think Chevrolet and Oldsmobile, Dodge and Plymouth, and of course Ford and Mercury. Back in the day, these companies regularly produced cars that were unique to their own brand. Today, such differences seem to be the exception to the rule.

Sometimes timing is everything. During our trip to Shelby Parts and Restoration last fall to photograph Carroll Shelby's '69 GT500 convertible before it crossed the block at Barrett-Jackson, we wandered into Jim Cowles' restoration domain just as a customer's '68 Shelby GT500KR was being completed. In fact, it was still on the lift, providing the perfect opportunity to document the details of a fresh rotisserie, concours restoration.

In a way, 1986 represents the end of two Ford performance eras, one long and illustrious and the other short but furious. With the introduction of fuel-injection for the Mustang's 5.0L V-8, the carburetor's 24-year run as the small-block's induction of choice came to an end. And, in an unfortunate twist of fate, the three-year production of the high-tech Mustang SVO, a car that was perhaps ahead of its time, also ended.

Jerry Kubitsky was 11 years old when his father, Lester, traded in a '63 Impala for a red Mustang hardtop at Galpin Ford in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. Ford's most successful dealership had been in business 20 years and was already well-established when Lester drove out of the lot in his new Mustang.