It was July 1987. A woman, perhaps in her 70s, sat shotgun as her son-in- law guided her beige 1970 Mustang coupe into the restoration shop. Every panel was rusted; the car appeared a better candidate for the crusher than for restoration.
But there were other considerations: The high price of buying a new car. The fond memory that 17 years earlier she had purchased the car new. The car still ran well. And, of course, it was a Mustang.
The woman talked to the shopowner, Bob Tessarolo, and decided to have the car restored. It was disassembled, the rust removed, all quarter-panels and fenders replaced and the color changed to bright red. Two months,
approximately 300 hours and $10,000 later, the Mustang looked as good as the day it left the showroom.
”That was one of the first cars we did,” says Tessarolo, owner of the Mustang of Chicago restoration shop. ”When we finished, she was happy with the job and she had what amounted to a new car for less money.”
Tessarolo started out in a cramped office in Bensenville in 1980 selling Ford parts. Today, his parts shop is in the same suburb and stocks 3,000 square feet of early and late-model Mustang parts. His 3-year-old 5,000-square-foot restoration shop in Wood Dale is crowded with Mustangs in every stage of restoration.
His venture into restoring Mustangs had humble beginnings.
”I bought old motorcycles, painted them and sold them,” Tessarolo recalls. ”My wife asked me why I didn`t restore a car like our neighbor across the street had. So I bought and restored a 1920 Ford Model A. I learned a lot about restoration by doing all the work myself. I did the same with several other cars-and it just took off from there.
”But I always had a thing for Mustangs.”
Tessarolo`s first Ford product was a Mercury, which he bought in 1959. He was part of the Mustang craze since Day 1-”It`s the hottest car to ever come out of Detroit”-and has owned more than 25 of them. He owns a 1966 Mustang and a 1960 Ford Sunliner convertible.
In the early 1960s, after the marketing and sales disaster of the Edsel, Ford Motor Co. needed a car to revive sagging sales.
Lee Iacocca, now Chrysler Corp. chairman, was an up-and-comer with Ford at the time. Iacocca championed the cause of the Mustang, a car in development by the time he arrived at Ford. Based initially on the original Thunderbirds, the car was code named Mustang I.
Iacocca saw that the Mustang I could not be produced profitably, so a contest was held among Ford design teams to come up with a production version. The new Mustang was unveiled at the New York World`s Fair on April 17, 1964. It was a smash success.
Ford set out on an advertising blitz in major newspapers and on television. The Mustang set sales records; by the 1966 model year, more than a million had been sold.
Despite borrowing heavily from Falcon and Fairlane driveline and chassis components, it was a sporty car with a long hood and short deck and it seated four. Base price was only $2,368.
When Tessarolo moved to a larger parts shop in 1983, he was limited to doing interiors and bodywork because of zoning laws.
”I suggested other people to do the painting, but the customers weren`t happy with the results they were getting,” he recalls. ”I found there was a need for high-quality work. I would do welding and mechanical work in the parts shop, and then go to another location to paint the cars. I finally found a building only six blocks from the parts shop in Bensenville and moved the whole restoration operation over there.
”We didn`t advertise much, but people made an effort to find me. Word got around, and more and more cars were brought in. Before we knew it, we had eight to 10 cars backed up in the shop. So, this place sprung out of a need,” he says.
”Restoring a Mustang is time-consuming and expensive,” he says.
”Typically, the car must be completely taken apart, rusted parts sandblasted and repainted, and many parts replaced.”
On average, customers should expect to spend two months and $10,000 for a restoration-double that for the rarer Boss 302 and Shelby Mustangs. Both cars (Carroll Shelby, the man who turned ”ordinary” Mustangs into thinly disguised race cars, customized several models) have unique engine and exterior features more difficult to repair or replace. The interiors, wheels and tires and engine packages cost more and are harder to find.
Tessarolo takes a complicated step-by-step approach to restoration. He outlined the process for a `65 Mustang convertible:
”The first thing we do is double-check our original estimate. If it`s correct and we have the customer`s approval, the convertible top is removed. The interior is removed and set aside for refurbishing. The car is then elevated to get under it easier.
”We cut out the inner structure, the torque box and inner rockers. The doors are supported and aligned. This is because when the floor rusts, it sags in the middle and you cannot open and close the doors properly. Then we remove the floor panels.
”Rusted panels on the inside are removed and stripped of rust. We replace the inner structure piece by piece, align it and mig-weld each side individually. What can`t be repaired is typically replaced with reproduction parts, since they`re easier to find, less expensive, and we stock most of them. We then undercoat everything.
”The undercarriage of any car is continually exposed to salt in the winter. The rust is everywhere. We work on the upper and lower control arms and springs, shocks, exhaust system and engine compartment especially.
”If needed, any body panels are removed now. If the panels need to be replaced, we try to find one as close to the original fit as possible. The only thing we can do is get it as close as we can; it just can`t be exactly the same as the factory.
”We have the ability to pull the engine, even though we don`t have the honing and boring equipment of a full machine shop. What we do is pull the engine out, take it apart and get it ready for rebuilding. We usually do valve work, for example.
”We would then do any required mechanical work: wiring, tuneups, brakes, exhaust, U-joints, driveshaft, shocks, control arms-pretty much everything needs fixing or replacing.”
For major repairs, Tessarolo said engines are sent elsewhere. ”When it comes back, we assemble the oil pan and pump, place the valve covers back on, install the carb and get it running again.
”Initially, the engine is left in the car to get the proper structural alignment. We get the car to the point where you can open and close the doors properly and get a basic alignment. You want the weight and the stress of the engine at all the critical areas for balance. Then the engine would be sent out if necessary and we`d detail the engine compartment, if needed.
”The average car that comes in has 70,000 to 90,000 miles on it and usually needs some internal engine work.
”Same with the transmission. We typically change the filter, screen and fluids and make minor adjustments. If any major work is required, we send it to a rebuilding shop.
”We`ve done a few late-model engines, but mostly limited to modifications. We just installed a new camshaft and roller rockers on a customer`s `88 Mustang GT. But when you change cams and roller rockers to the specs this kid needed, you need special equipment to get sensors and indicators back into sync because of the timing requirements and vacuum that`s now been changed. It can create problems. It`s difficult to do a job like that from start to finish because you need computers to recalibrate the sensors so the car operates properly.
”We`ve installed four-wheel discs and high-performance handling suspensions on the late-model Mustangs-two popular changes.
”We do rear-ends for the late-model Mustangs, but the early cars are more difficult to work on. They`re a little more in-depth because you need dial-in indicators and that sort of thing, so we would send that out to get the proper patterns on the indicator.
”But 95 percent of what we do is in-house.
”After all body panels are in alignment, the car is hand or chemically stripped. It`s primed, sealed and painted with whatever color the customer wants.
”The reworked interior is placed back into the car. People are done climbing in and out of the car at this point. A new or refurbished top is installed. The chrome moldings and bumpers are placed back on the car. The customer has a like-new Mustang to drive and enjoy.”
Restorations aren`t always so straightforward, as evidenced by the worst- condition car the shop ever had to restore.
”We`ve had some pretty rough ones come in here,” says restoration manager Bronco Hinic. ”But a `67 Mustang convertible was probably the worst car we`ve ever worked on. The man had already pumped $5,000 into the engine and transmission, but structurally, the car was a disaster. He brought it in on a flatbed truck, and I told him to take it out of here. It was only good for a parts car.
”There was no part of that car without rust. Someone had done some structural repair. What a joke! That someone had taken stop-sign posts and welded them underneath the car to try and help it structurally. There was quarter-inch plate steel welded everywhere to try and hold this car together. ”We had to cut all of that out, from the rear frame rails all the way to the front. We completely redid that car, to the point of replacing every piece of metal.
”The bill was almost $20,000.”
Hinic says: ”People I`ve talked to recently said they`d rather spend $10,000 to restore their Mustangs than buy a new one for about $20,000. The new car will depreciate as soon as it`s driven off the showroom floor, the restored car will appreciate in value. You pretty much have a new car-a classic-and if you want to sell it sometime, you`ll hopefully make a profit.” Tessarolo thinks the restoration field will continue to grow and that prices people pay to acquire these cars will continue to rise.
”As long as the economy doesn`t worsen too much, people will have the money to spend on restoring their cars. You can restore an old Mustang, drive it, enjoy it and have it be worth more the following year.”
Prices for restored Mustangs vary widely depending on model and desirability. Last year at the prestigious Barret-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., a fully restored `66 convertible sold for $50,000. A `65 six-cylinder coupe can go for $13,000; the Shelby models such as the `66 GT-350 can command upwards of $100,000. The Shelbys are rare cars, and fine examples are even rarer.
The `74-`78 Mustangs have not enjoyed the same popularity as the earlier models.
”It`s a car that`s not really worth a lot, except for the Cobras,”
Tessarolo says. ”It`s a Mustang II, not a Mustang. There are a growing number of people who are into these cars, but the main problem is there`s not a lot of reproduction parts available for them.”
Models from 1979 through 1985 are growing in popularity, he added. ”But the appeal is not nearly the same as for the `64 1/2 throught `73 Mustangs. There aren`t as many people who want to restore those cars. Another 10 years or so down the line and they could be a hot item.”
Why does a potential customer choose a restoration shop over a Ford dealership?
”Dealerships charge around $52 an hour,” says Hinic. ”A bumper from Ford is $250-if you can find one. A high-quality reproduction bumper goes for about $89. The major advantage to bringing a car to Mustang of Chicago or any other qualified restoration shop is parts availability.
”Also, there are very few technicians at dealerships today who were working on 1960s cars,” he adds. ”It`s such a specialized field, you need a knowledgeable person working on an early-model car. He`s going to know the car better and fix the car better.”
”Most body shops will take a Mustang in as a `filler,` ” adds Tessarolo. ”When they get into the kind of restorations they have to do on our cars, it`s not like repairing a newer car. These are rusty cars-some almost beyond the point of fixing. The average dealer or shop wouldn`t have anything to do with it.
”We guarantee everything we do,” Tessarolo adds. ”For example, if a customer is not happy with a paint job or if six months down the line the paint cracks and falls off, there`s a reason for it and it`s probably in the preparation. No. 1, my name is on that car because I painted it.
”Customer satisfaction is very important in this business. I want him to come back when he buys another Mustang. If he doesn`t like the paint, I`ll have my people redo the job until he`s happy and I`m satisfied everything is fine.
”There`s no reason why paint wouldn`t last for several years even if you don`t do anything to it. But you should wash and wax the car periodically and the paint will last for a long time.
”On a replacement part, the general warranty from the manufacturer is 90 days.”
Customers always ask if painting a car a different color than the original will hurt the car`s value in the future.
”The value of the car is determined basically by what condition it is in,” says Tessarolo. ”If you were doing a concours car, a car that is judged for originality, then you would want to keep the car the original color.
”Most of our customers just want a nice car and are not concerned with show quality. The work required to make it perfect costs several thousand dollars extra. If you`re going to invest in the car and keep it, paint it the color you want to look at.”
Tessarolo said most customers aren`t looking for a show car. The average customer ”wants to have a nice-looking car that turns heads and he`ll be comfortable driving.”
Ford has paid attention to the enthusiast. ”When Ford redesigned the Mustang in 1979, I believe it was due to the popularity of the early Mustangs,” says Tessarolo. ”They`re sporty and powerful and the car started a revolution.
”The love affair with the Mustang will never end. In 20 years we`ll be restoring the current generation Mustangs. The enthusiasm will continue to grow.”
