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One Mustang owner's wild rides

Stories (and how-to's) inspired by real life experiences with my first car

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This page last updated on or about 7-12-06
a - j m o o n e y h a m . c o m - o r i g i n a l

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This page is dedicated to my real-life car of yesteryear-- a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1.

I grew up in a relatively dangerous place in America. With more than its share of violence, corruption, gangs, and outlaws.

I never realized such stuff wasn't the norm until after I'd spent some time far removed from my hometown. But even then it took me a while to believe it.

Plus, it may be if you're accustomed to trouble, you'll unconsciously seek it out, even where it's a rarity. You know: to feel more at home.

I chose my Mustang mostly by chance. Then, spurred by personal ambitions, frustration, and competition from both friend and foe, I taught myself expert driving techniques, and rebuilt my car into a somewhat fiercer version of the original.

Put all this together and you get the kinds of stuff seen below...if you're lucky. An awful lot of my peers from those days didn't survive the times. Some of their ends are described in the stories.

In the accounts below details like names, dates, and more have been changed for reasons which should become apparent to readers. I also include a partial list of the actual events from which these stories are drawn for those who are interested.


[Caution: The accounts below may incorporate adult language, behavior, and concerns.]

Please choose your ride below

  • Slip, sliding away; I actually met the singer Paul Simon around this time. But the girl who tried to kill me made a much greater impression. Here you'll find a race with a GTO for cash, a scary all-lights-out night-run, and a modern-day red neck automotive version of Roman gladiatorial combat. Let the spectacle begin...

  • A Halloween to remember; Here I got an offer I truly could not refuse-- even if it killed me!

    Thumbnail image of a 1969 American Motors Javelin AMX
  • Face of Dana Connor from the story A Halloween to remember

    To see lots more of Dana, check out A Halloween to remember.

  • The Daytona 1200; Here my home-built supercar unexpectedly had to go head-to-head against a factory legend.

    Winged 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona 426 Hemi

    a - j m o o n e y h a m . c o m - o r i g i n a l

  • Deep in the throat of Texas describes one summer vacation from college I spent in Texas.

    • Too close to the bone details how I came to set up shop near Houston Texas one fateful summer.

    • No good deed goes unpunished; There I go again-- as my Tennessee buddies might have said at the time. Poking my [car's] nose into places it didn't belong...

    • Kissing the wall; One officer didn't take kindly to me spoiling his fun, and wanted to make sure I knew it. But then I had to go and do it a second time...

    • When push came to shove; This guy just wouldn't let it go. When he decided to give me a high speed send off I wouldn't live to remember, something different happened instead...

    • Tornado Alley; Talk about stormy relationships! Just try beating this one! Ouch!

    • Heartbreaker; There can be a very thin line between wonderful and awful, as I learned here. Too, Shadow had to go up against a 1970 Ford Torino GT 429 Cobra Jet in the quarter mile. And test his top end endurance against another opponent until one or the other literally blew up. And I wasn't driving Shadow at the time! Agh!

      Thumbnail image of a 1971 Ford Torino GT
    • Face of Bridget Dufay from the story Heartbreaker

      To see lots more of Bridget, check out Heartbreaker.

  • Breaking up; You can take the man out of the war-- but you can't necessarily take the war out of the man. One worn out soldier needed help retiring.

    The true source of this page is

  • Ring of fire; If someone told you you'd someday need a gun suitable for a ten year old to use-- and you'd basically be this kid's sidekick for a day-- you wouldn't believe a word of it. Right? Well, if anyone had made this prediction of me, they'd have been right on the money.

  • Over the edge; I never intended my redesigned car to have to traverse anything more rugged than potholes and washboard gravel roads. So naturally I ended up having to pilot it through a near trackless mountain wilderness. With killers on my tail to discourage any slacking off.

  • What goes around...; This may be a classic example of how hum-drum stuff can turn deadly on you. And how the kindness of strangers could at times be critical to your well being, too.

  • Nowhere to go but up; This was the straw that broke the camel's back: I'd never take Shadow into major action again after this. Amazingly enough, our last run would turn out to affect a lot bigger chunk of the world than I could ever have imagined...

  • Notes from the actual owner/driver of the Shadowfast super car; Here's some back story on the real-life stuff which sparked these accounts.

BACK to Me and my Shadow supercar 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 supercar site map


Copyright © 2005, 2006 by J.R. Mooneyham. All rights reserved.
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