Building A 68 California Special (GTCS)
Restoring a California Special
Its not often you see California specials anymore much less get to restore one. I received a call from a Gentleman who requested that we restore his California Special. The car he said, was stored at his fathers place in Florida. He had owned the car for some time and over the years had replaced the original engine for a modified engine combination for a little extra fun. Wisely he kept all of his original driveline to enable a rewind feature back to original should he desire. We picked up the car and scooped up the original driveline and brought it back to the shop to build the car ground up just as it was when it left Ford. Well……..hopefully a little better!
The car had been painted some years ago covering the original Code T Candyapple Red with a more look at me orange. The years close to the salty air have not been kind to this old family member, but heck if they were all easy to restore when would we have fun. The goal now is to take it all back to original so here we go!!
Here is a little information about the California Special or GTCS as its most lovingly referred to by its loyal fans.
The car was made special by the following options.
Fiberglass trunk lid and qtr extensions.
1965 Thunderbird Tail lights.
Pop off gas cap.
Body striping.
Fiberglass side scoops.
Marchal or Lucas Fog Lights.
Chrome qtr panel script.
Hood Locks.
All GTCS cars were Coupes.
All engines available like any 68 Mustang.
Built only in San Jose Plant.
Blacked out Front Grille
4118 GTCS’s were built
In mid-February 1968, the California Ford Dealers (Ford Dealer Advertising Fund) began to market a factory-built, limited-edition Mustang, called the GT/CS, or "California Special". The hope was for a targeted production run of 5,000, but actually, 68" Production ran for only 5.5 months from mid-February 1968 to early August 1968.
The GT/CS is one of the more sought after vintage Mustangs. In fact, it carries enough weight that Ford brought the name back in 2007 for another go around. So there is a marked interest in the little coupe. And oddly, there has been since the beginning.
Lee Grey was the man in charge of sales in So Cal during the 1960’s and with southern California accounting for 20 percent of Fords sales Lee was a man with some pull. During 1967 he was casting about for a spring promotion for his Mustang line in 1968 (remember that the new models came out half a year early) and happened to see the 1967 Shelby “Lil’ Red” prototype Hardtop at the Ford LA preview in 1967. Grey felt he had something there. Ford chief Lee Iacocca, always a man with a nose for a good seller, saw the Shelby Hardtop and had the car shipped to Dearborn for evaluation as a national program under the name GT/SC (note the flip of the last two letters) for GT/Sport Coupe. Somehow, (possibly due to cost) the GT/SC was turned back over to Lee Grey for his spring program. So the GT California Special was on.
Interestingly, the GT/CS is about as close as you can get to a Shelby and not own a Shelby. In 1968, Shelby production was moved to Ionia, Michigan; Ford wanted a bigger hand in the cars and Shelby was wanting out. Even so Ford tasked Shelby American with the implementation of the GT/CS. Thus, the GT/CS was designed and assembly procedures developed by the folks at Shelby.
Outwardly, the GT/CS is pretty close to a Shelby. Aside form the fact that the car is a coupe, the rear exterior parts are all Shelby (right down to the side scoops), lacking only the badging from the GT350 or 500. Up front, Ford did away with the Shelby nose cone and hood (as we said, possibly to keep cost down and so as to not delude the Shelby brand) but retained the hood pins and Lucas fog lights. Ford also added a distinctive mid-line “GT” styled stripe with the GT/CS designations cut out on the scoops as well as a dual stripe on the deck lid and extensions.
The GT/CS could be had with any of Fords available engines (yes, even a six or the mighty 428 Cobra Jet) as well as all the transmissions to match. So, you could order your GT/CS as plain as this car could get (the GT/CS option only) or as wild as you wanted (428 and all the trimmings).
While the GT/CS was primarily a California “deal,” the cars were sold as far way from the west coast as Oklahoma and Texas.
The car was made special by the following options.
Fiberglass trunk lid and qtr extensions.
1965 Thunderbird Tail lights.
Pop off gas cap.
Body striping.
Fiberglass side scoops.
Marchal or Lucas Fog Lights.
Chrome qtr panel script.
Hood Locks.
All GTCS cars were Coupes.
All engines available like any 68 Mustang.
Built only in San Jose Plant.
Blacked out Front Grille
4118 GTCS’s were built
In mid-February 1968, the California Ford Dealers (Ford Dealer Advertising Fund) began to market a factory-built, limited-edition Mustang, called the GT/CS, or "California Special". The hope was for a targeted production run of 5,000, but actually, 68" Production ran for only 5.5 months from mid-February 1968 to early August 1968.
The GT/CS is one of the more sought after vintage Mustangs. In fact, it carries enough weight that Ford brought the name back in 2007 for another go around. So there is a marked interest in the little coupe. And oddly, there has been since the beginning.
Lee Grey was the man in charge of sales in So Cal during the 1960’s and with southern California accounting for 20 percent of Fords sales Lee was a man with some pull. During 1967 he was casting about for a spring promotion for his Mustang line in 1968 (remember that the new models came out half a year early) and happened to see the 1967 Shelby “Lil’ Red” prototype Hardtop at the Ford LA preview in 1967. Grey felt he had something there. Ford chief Lee Iacocca, always a man with a nose for a good seller, saw the Shelby Hardtop and had the car shipped to Dearborn for evaluation as a national program under the name GT/SC (note the flip of the last two letters) for GT/Sport Coupe. Somehow, (possibly due to cost) the GT/SC was turned back over to Lee Grey for his spring program. So the GT California Special was on.
Interestingly, the GT/CS is about as close as you can get to a Shelby and not own a Shelby. In 1968, Shelby production was moved to Ionia, Michigan; Ford wanted a bigger hand in the cars and Shelby was wanting out. Even so Ford tasked Shelby American with the implementation of the GT/CS. Thus, the GT/CS was designed and assembly procedures developed by the folks at Shelby.
Outwardly, the GT/CS is pretty close to a Shelby. Aside form the fact that the car is a coupe, the rear exterior parts are all Shelby (right down to the side scoops), lacking only the badging from the GT350 or 500. Up front, Ford did away with the Shelby nose cone and hood (as we said, possibly to keep cost down and so as to not delude the Shelby brand) but retained the hood pins and Lucas fog lights. Ford also added a distinctive mid-line “GT” styled stripe with the GT/CS designations cut out on the scoops as well as a dual stripe on the deck lid and extensions.
The GT/CS could be had with any of Fords available engines (yes, even a six or the mighty 428 Cobra Jet) as well as all the transmissions to match. So, you could order your GT/CS as plain as this car could get (the GT/CS option only) or as wild as you wanted (428 and all the trimmings).
While the GT/CS was primarily a California “deal,” the cars were sold as far way from the west coast as Oklahoma and Texas.
As you can see from these pictures there is no shortage of fun to be had with this car the rust has really snuck in and taken over in many places. Thats ok though we love a challenge. Can't you just see the fresh candyapple red paint, new chrome and stripes. Ya, I know my wife tells me a I have some serious issues. I can't help it though many people see a lost cause I see a second chance at life for this car. You can't throw it away!! This car rocks!! Still not with me ........well just keep watching this car will be a head turner again.
Click on pictures to see larger images as well as possible text descriptions.
We have made great progress on this car the rust is gone and its really looking sharp its not going to be to much longer before we will be applying that Candyapple paint! We have replaced the fenders, put on new door skins on both sides two new qtr panels, floor boards, seat risers, and repaired all the dings and dents. We are about to reinstall the replacement dash panel, and work on body seams and then .....can you say paint booth?
Lets Build the Engine true this engine is no ground pounder but cool non the less. It's cool because its the original power plant. Even more cool is the fact the the owner pulled the engine aside years ago and kept it tucked away in a corner until it's return to service. When he brought us the car it had an engine in it that he enjoyed tinkering with. It sported some performance upgrades far from its original factory roots. However nicely purched on a wooden flat was the original engine ready for a second go at pulling this classic beauty down the black top. We pulled the engine off its purch of many years and disassembled it for a rebuild. Rebuild includes new .030 pistons, hardened valve seats, new cam, bearings, oil pump, cam bearings, cam, lifters, timing set, and all new gaskets.
