DEARBORN, Mich. -“Hello, Ford Performance! My name is Chris Norris of Knoxville, Tennessee, and I’d like to nominate my Nightmist Blue 1966 Mustang Coupe to be featured in your Ford Fan Spotlight. Purchased new for $2,889 by my father on November 23, 1965, from Hull-Dobbs Ford in Memphis, this car has been in the family ever since. It was his daily driver for 21 years, making daily commutes to and from work in Memphis. For 12 of those years following our family’s move to Henning, Tennessee, in 1974, my dad drove the car 50 miles each way to and from his job in Memphis.

When I turned 16 in 1986, and with 248,000 miles on the odometer at the time, the car became my daily driver. During the summer of 1988, my grandfather assisted in readying the car for the 350-mile trips to and from college in Knoxville, Tennessee. We rebuilt the engine, converted it over to electronic ignition (salvaged from a Lincoln Continental) and added new front spindles and front disc brakes (salvaged from a Ford Granada).

With few other changes, I drove the car through college and for the first two years of my own work career. It was then parked and eventually fell into disrepair until, in August of 2011, a full restoration project began with most all of the work performed by Owens Oldies in Crossville, Tennessee, with some additional fine-tuning completed by Precision Rod and Customs in Sevierville, Tennessee.  

Having driven the car for many years with manual steering and brakes, I recalled when, with its single-reservoir master cylinder, a wheel cylinder failed resulting in a complete loss of brakes. So I knew that a brake upgrade would be part of the car getting the full resto-mod treatment. The 289 (C-code) V-8 and C4 automatic transmission were rebuilt. Significant upgrades were made to the suspension and steering. Total Control Products’ adjustable coil-overs were installed front and rear, and electric power steering was added. Four-wheel disc brakes were also installed. New upholstery, carpet, dash pad and headliner were all part of the interior upgrades, including the addition of a Dakota Digital VHX Gauge System, TMI headrest kit, a tilt steering column, and Grant black-mahogany steering wheel. Exterior upgrades included the addition of a Mustang GT rear valence, LED taillights, smoked glass, and American Racing 16x7-inch Torq Thrust II polished wheels with BFGoodrich g-Force Sport 215/55-16 tires.

The full restoration project can be viewed at https://norrisrestorationblog.blogspot.com,
and a video of the build can be seen here https://youtu.be/iZa5NAjh98I