April 2008
Charlie & Sandy
Smith's 1989 SSC #121
Jeffersonville Indiana
The story begins as a young boy (actually
I was in my mid—40’s)
living in Indiana and seeing my first SSC and thinking that is the car I
want someday.
With a price tag of over $35,000 and a Mustang GT selling for $16,000 or
so, it would be a long time before I would ever have one of those, in
fact almost 20 years went by and pretty much had given up thoughts of
owning an SSC, otherwise known as
The “Official” Unofficial 25th Anniversary Edition Mustang.
As luck would have
it, my son Todd found one searching through Craig’s List and at a price
I could work with—the only down side of the car, it was in Washington
and I live in Indiana.
I had just sold my
1967 Mustang GT Fastback so there was a little cash flow. After talking
to some fellow SCOA members that had seen the car, the deal was made and
a trucking company was hired.
After a few weeks
of anticipation and sleepless nights, buying a car sight unseen is not
my normal way, the SSC arrived, it was better than the photos—I started
it and drove it around and I knew the car was everything I had hoped it
would be and more.
We have had to fix
some things, replace some parts, find the right wheels, which is a story
in itself, and we still have some more to do, but it’s in my garage and
that’s all that I need right now.
Just a little
about SSC wheels. They are not hard to find - well, the correct ones
that is.
The guy I bought
the car from, sent a set with the car, in addition to the 17” chrome
ones on the car,. They needed some serious repair work which we have
finally decided to just use them as garage stools and not risk any
failures.
I later bought
another set, but found they were actually replicas of some sort and now
they are garage art.
Finally, a SCOA
member offered me the right set, 3 very nice, one had a small crack,
which we were able to have repaired.
After a new set of
Bilsteins and the correct wheels - the car looks right, sits right and
drives right.
We still have a
spoiler issue, but for now, it’s staying in place, maybe I’ll change it
maybe not, looks good to me and that’s mostly what having a car is
about -
Your preferences.
And then there is
the steering wheel - it has a lot of damage and is very difficult to
find someone to repair it back to the original condition, plus having to
send it somewhere and take a chance of it being lost.
And then there is
that luck thing again, browsing eBay, we found a SSC wheel with the
horn cover—WOW! It looks in great condition and not getting much action,
so I watch it for awhile and bang, it is now sitting at my house ready
to be installed.
We still have some
more work to do, a new heater core, repair the speaker box, some damaged
leather trim to be replaced, a little painting inside and out, but we
love the car.
I guess one of
the bigger concerns I had when I bought it was the body pieces and
decals, they are all there and for the most part, in very good shape.
Sure some of the parts need a little paint and buffing, but the decals
are there and do not need replacing, the emblems are there, the car is
not a total original car and won’t be, but it will be a very nice one
and we like it.
The car also has a
little history. The original owner was Dennis Rodman, don’t know if
that’s good or bad, but it gives the car a little history.
There were several
other owners after him, including one person who was handicapped and
modified the car a little, added an air clutch with a compressor mounted
under the rear seat delete. Seems he also participated in auto-cross.
Another one of the owners worked quite a bit with the tune and according
to the dyno sheets, it is putting down 253 rwhp and 315 ft lbs of rear
wheel torque.
Not to bad !
You will see us
out at car shows and cruise-ins, or just taking a drive in it, we really
like the car. When you can finally get one that you have always wanted
it make’s it kind of special not matter what it is.
Thanks
to all of the previous owners for keeping the original documentation
too. Including the copies of the Original title, Saleen Autosport SSC
Picksheet, Production worksheet, Pre-Production Service Record, Original
Alignment records, Detail Sheet, the Motor Vehicle Inspection Sheet and
the dealer key tags and Inventory sheet.
Charlie & Sandy
Smith
