1963 Ford Falcon Restoration

The story begins in October of 1999 at the Evansville Autofest Nationals, October 1st through the 3rd. The Autofest Nationals was a showcase for feature cars that were presented on TV during the year of 1999. I was involved in that particular TV series with a 1958 Chrysler 300-D, which I restored for Ron Johnson. This particular car won the Mopar Nationals as Best of Show in 1992. It was award winning in many, many other shows; and in December of 1997, Dennis Gage came to Muscle Car Restorations to feature the car on television. He arrived at the shop in early December, the weather was great, and we were able to drive the car and create a television show that was aired in March or April of 1998 -- or 1999.

From that original visit and acquaintance with Dennis Gage, the car was subsequently invited to Evansville for the Autofest Nationals, which was a showcase for all the feature cars from the previous season. During that particular weekend, my acquaintance with Dennis Gage grew and our friendship started; and from that weekend, discussions continued with regards to other personal cars of his own and of his wife, Ellen; and during that weekend, I had a chance to speak with Ellen about their Falcon; and she sort of indicated that they were making plans to have it painted and have a new convertible top put on. I sensed an opportunity so I basically started asking questions with regards to if they had made plans, if they had made commitments and if so, how committed were they to sending the car that -- to a local body shop or would they be interested in sending it to Muscle Car Restorations for a paint job and an interior for a new convertible top.

Those discussions were brief in nature the weekend of the car show; and after that car show, during the week of October 7th, Dennis and I spoke on the phone; and we continued conversations with regards to pricing and some of the other thoughts on what he might want to have done with the car. From those conversations, we agreed on a price, and we made plans to pick the car up in Evansville a couple of months later. This I remember to be somewhere in the November, early December time frame, where I traveled to Evansville with my truck and trailer, spent the weekend with Dennis and Ellen at their home, and discussed the paint job and repairs that they were indicating on their Falcon. Then we brought the car back, and we began the disassembly.