How many times do you think about your very first Mustang? I know I think about my '84 GT (by VIN it was an '84, but I replaced the bumper cover with an '85/'86 piece, so the car was always being referrred to as an '85 or '86 Mustang by most people who saw it) quite often. Honestly, I think about that 'Stang almost every day. I no longer have the car, nor do I have any idea where it is now, who owns it or anything like that. But I do know that we shared plenty of good times together, and I honestly never should have sold it. You never know what you really had until it's gone. My best friend, Ward Alston, doesn't have the same longing for his first 'Stang, and I don't think he ever will...because he still owns it. This Regatta Blue 1988 GT is Ward's first Mustang, which he purchased brand new from Rick Hunt Ford in Madison, Virgina. I was the second passenger the car ever had (our friend Barry was the first). Ward definitely experienced plenty of good times in this baby during the many years it was on the street, but now he's having a different kind of fun in his first Mustang...

Yes, Ward's ride is yet another Mustang that has undergone the transformation from street-driven, to "full-race." NHRA's Stock Eliminator category (G/FI) is where the Mustang gets down these days, and get down it does, running low-12-second e.t.s with bone-stock everything (block, heads, camshaft, intake manifold, crank, pistons, rods, etc) on board. I think it's pretty cool that Ward has hung onto this car for so long (20 years). In less time, I've been through more Fox-body 'Stangs than I care to count. Whenever I think about Ward and his Mustang, it makes me realize how special "still owning the first one" really is. If you've still got your first Mustang, keep it! Don't make the same mistake I that did!