Someone else new!
 

Hello to you all!
Firstly a small apology, I do not hail from Canada and neither does my car - although I have driven many Canadian spec Mustangs if that counts for anything?!

I've owned my Mustang since Feb 2009 when I bought it in California and drove it across the USA through 23 US states - I was supposed to enter some of Canada too but the weather was less than friendly at that time of the year in northern USA so couldn't reach Canada sadly. I then shipped the car home to Europe.
Although my car is registered in the UK, it spends much time in Germany with me where it can also enjoy the freedom of the Autobahns there :D

I am a paid member of the Mustang Owners Club of Great Britain and am actively involved with events and tours, and have written articles for the club magazine as well as providing photos from our tours for both the club magazine and British 'American car magaines'.

I'm a huge car fanatic and also own a track-day road legal Tickford Racing Puma in England, and share part ownership of a DeLorean in Florida, USA, which has also had some modern upgrades including a race-tuned engine.

So the question begs, why did I sign up to the Canadian Mustang forums? Well I will be honest, i'm kind of hoping I might be able to source some license plates - I have recently started collecting from all over the world and massively lack anything from Canada, aside from a rather battered Alberta plate.
I'm also specifically on the hunt for current (ABCD 123) Ontario plates, my best friend (from Germany) is a Crown Victoria fan, and since they were built in Ontario we are trying to find some of those for the European owners who would like to display them on their cars at shows. (Not officially sold in Europe so kinda rare, like my Mustang in the UK gets exotic car status since it was never officially sold here).
I currently have around 5-10 people asking, but I don't even have one for myself yet!!
I can offer an unlimited supply of German and British plates in return if interested?! Or maybe I can help cover postage costs by paypal - but since i've lost my job i'm trying not to spend (basically I only spend on my cars, everything else has been sacrificed!!), and Royal Mail seems cheaper than Canadian Post when I looked at postage costs, so is a better option for me!

But other than that i'm a Mustang enthusiast, i've been lucky to drive all sorts, from a 1965 289 Convertible, a 1969 BOSS 429 right the way through the spectrum to the 2011 Shelby GT500's. I've not drive all ages, but many classics and many moderns :)

I do hope to participate here, and I am happy to post photo's and anything else if it helps with my introduction :) It seems like a nice friendly forum!
The avatar picture was taken in England, and the signature picture was taken in Nevada just 3 days after I collected her in Los Angeles. I use the same pics on the MOCGB.

But for now, here is a picture of my car, how it usually looks since I use it all the time (much to the upset of many on the GB Owners Club who like to treasure their rare unusual cars over here!), taken next to a nice English creek!
My car currently has 112,000 miles, which is approximately 180,000 km, making it the highest mileage Mustang in the club for it's age that I know of, unless someone else is keeping quiet about theirs!!

Hi Exige_240R, enjoy your stay :)

Welcome to CMOC.ca!

Wow furthest from home member so a warm friendly greeting from across the pond. It must be interesting owning a North American car and muscle to boot in a continent that drives mainly fuel sipping 4 cylinders. Do people frown at you for driving said beast or are they more curious etc. I think it is great that you have joined our site and hope you contribute with your Euro insights and pics. Welcome again

Wow, that's no small journey dude, welcome to the CMOC corner of the world. Gotta love the internet. Any pics of your old cars are welcome too, sounds like some good ones.

Overseas eh! Welcome aboard. Cool! Good luck on your search, wish i could help.

Welcome. I just recently scrapped all of my old plates but will check my garage to see if I happen to have any kicking around. It would be cool to get a few plates from your side of the world.

Welcome to the site. You mentioned the Crown Vic. I worked at FORD Talbotville ( over 32 years) where those were made from abt. 1991 until the plant recently closed in September 2011.
On a side note, I traveled to England/Scotland a few years ago. One of the things I remember is in Newcastle on the Tyne, seeing a ( big ?????) FORD pickup parked among all the smaller European cars on the street. I did a double take for sure. :D

Welcome:tup

I would say so, it's like a tank compared to the small stuff they have:lol

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!!

Most people are pretty curious and interested, many know what it is, some people ask about it, and i've even had a married couple arguing whether it is a Ferrari or a Mustang at a gas station one day! I get a lot of people when i'm in Europe asking to take a photo of it, they want to know so much info but there are obvious language barriers sometimes, so I just open the door for them to sit in it, they love that, big :D and a photo, makes their day and I feel god for making them happy!
A lot of people love the noise (I have Flowmaster American Thunder cat-backs, so not too loud but a nice rumble still), and it's nice, when I drive the Puma or other performance cars here, everyone and their dog want's to race you, but no one bothers you in the Mustang, they are too intimidated by it, and i've really shocked a few people at hill-climbs and on race tracks, and i'm not afraid to push it hard.
I look forward to joining in once i've had a good read through everything, i've become somewhat used to having the car here in Europe and the conversion work I had to carry out to make it legal here - many people stick stuff to the cars but I made sure mine looks factory standard, for a little effort the results are - if I do say so myself - worth it!

Thanks :) When I bought my Mustang and drove it across the US, my adventure was just beginning, there is a whole wide world out there and i've only began to scrape the surface. I plan to keep this car and to have it see much more of the world where gas is cheaper than in the UK (pretty much everywhere!). I'll add some more pics at the bottom of this thread!

That's a shame about the plates, but if you do find any more i'd love to give them a home over here!
I would be more than happy to organise some plates coming your way from here, I have lots of German, Belgian and British plates, plus a few other European plates, but not so many of them. Send me a PM some time and we can discuss!

That's cool, I have a friend who lives in my local town (I live in a small village) who has an ex-LAPD Crown Vic, it still has all the lights and graphics, that thing certainly does grab a lot of attention! He is not allowed to use the lights & sirens on the public roads, but sometimes he does when parked because people love to see it!
And yes, there are a couple of specialists that bring in Ford and Dodge pick-ups, despite the larger size, there are advantages to operating US vehicles in the UK certainly, largely due to loop-holes in the system, these trucks are not European compliant, so can often get away with costing less on company tax etc. Even my Mustang is exempt from emissions testing and therefore gets a cheaper rate of road tax than if it was an official European compliant car.

-

And here are some pics the other cars:

A photo I took of the DeLorean one evening as the sun was setting in a local car park

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320884956

Here is my Tickford Racing Puma, the license plate is legally the closest to Tickfordyou can get on the UK system, and came with the car, I never changed it (issued numbers stay with the car in the UK, not the owner). This is me driving it at Brands Hatch race track:

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320884956

And at Snetterton race track:

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320884956

And I even found a random photo of my old MR2, I owned this for 1 year, it took everything I threw at it, including driving though a flooded river where the water was half-way up the front hood (mid engine has its advantages). Loved that car, but it failed it's inspection so was not worth spending money on it to make it pass.

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320884956

And a another of my Mustang:
The first day I had the car in the UK, I drove it for a few months on the Cali plates - just to be different! The hole in the bumper was caused by some rogue wooden furniture on a dark night in Colorado. All patched up now though.

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320884956

what is the second car at the track. Oh I tend to ask a zillion questions, hope you don't mind lol

I don't mind questions! Makes my life easier as I never quite know what to say in introductions, so I work better with questions!

The car started life as a Ford Puma (a coupe based on the Fiesta platform). Ford decided they wanted to make an RS model, to go with the Focus RS, this is the result, however before the launch of the car Ford were concered it may embarrass the RS badge so decided to call the the Racing Puma - internally known as the ST160. The car was only available in Imperial Blue, the colour of RS models until the latest Focus RS when other colours became available. Turns out they had nothing to be embarrassed about, everyone loved the Racing Puma!

The build of the car was outsourced to Tickford (they build the bodies for Aston Martin in the 80's, and also designed and built the Ford RS200 Group B rally car, as well as many other cars over the years). They still operate I believe in Australia under the FPV group tuning the Aussie Falcons (although I am happy to believe this has now stopped).

Anyway I have digressed! The Racing Puma, built by Tickford was supposed to be limited to 500 cars for the UK market exclusively (but not that many were built). The body is much wider than the standard Puma, it sits lower and has an aggressive carbon fibre front splitter. Wider wheels and tracking along with a lower stance gave the FRP great handling characteristics - the body panels were the same cast as the World Rally Championship (WRC) Puma, although only made from Aluminium for the street cars. My car has been fitted with prototype Bilstein springs and dampers - only 15 cars had this setup installed, it is designed for track racing and the handling is like glue. I used to work for Lotus cars, and i've never found a car that grips as well as this does that doesn't wear the Lotus badge. Also the front brakes were straight off the rally car, and are able to pull 1.1g under braking (the only other car on the road with this size brakes appears to be the Ferrari 355 - so nice cheap replacements ... not!).

The engine has been breathed on as well, it's a 1.7 Zetec with variable valve timing, pushing out around 160 bhp naturally aspirated, with a 0-60 mph (0-100km/h) of around 7 seconds - not bad for a 1.7 engine! Due to the fuel management and high profile cams, the car pops and backfires and when driven hard very small flame can be seen (apparently - I can't see it as i'm driving!) from the exhaust - all this is factory tune, I have not modified anything except a Pipercross panel filter.

I hope that gives you some info, my car is #351 (last I heard the owners forum estimate less than 400 left on the road) and was built in 2000. I bought it in October 2006.

And if you think you ask a zillion questions, i'm afraid I give the longest replies ever!! :D

Nothing like a informative response lol. It may just be me but racing seems to be much larger of a sport in Europe except for useless Nascar racing here. I love to watch old clips of Formula 1 racing in the days gone by as those guys had balls the size of well you know big.I have been trying to find a free site to watch the BBC4 movie about the crash at lemans in 1955 but no luck yet. Thanks again for your reply sir.

I wish I could help with the BBC4 crash, I think I remember seeing it when it aired on TV late night one evening on BBC1 or 2. It was an amazing insight into a world I can only learn about from the history books.

Track racing is much bigger over here, not just as a professional sport, but there are many amateur race series using all sorts of cars, from old hatchbacks to BMW's - there really is no limit. It is also becoming very popular to take your own car on track days, with more imposed speed limits and cameras it is the last refuge of the spirited driver, and even the Mustang owners club of GB organises a track event - here's a random selection of a few pics I took when I was there in 2009

And none of these guys are hanging around, we had 2 crashes and blown water tank that day!

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320961831

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320961831

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320961831

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320961831

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320961831

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1320961831

great pics and in the 5th pic I see a wee bit o oversteer tehehehe

You have a Delorean? That is awesome. Welcome to the club.

I was never a big fan of the D mainly because of the choice they made for the engine.

well said hee hee
Love the pics also. Thanks for posting them.

I have lots of video showing some oversteer action on that corner from both modern and classics :D I don't know where to upload them though, plus I have to find them, these pics are already online!!

Thanks for the welcome herbz!

As for the DeLorean, the standard PCV V6 engine was lame, i've driven 4 cars with that setup and it's not inspiring at all.
However, my DeLorean has 100 bhp extra, using new inlet manifold, complete exhaust system, high-lift racing cams (it won't idle on cold start, you must keep the revs up until it has started to warm up), and is fitted with Eibach lowering springs meaning it handles like a car from the 2000's, not the 80's!
It's still no rocket ship with 260-odd bhp, but it makes the whole experience a whole heap more fun, from the noise, and the added performance in a car that isn't very heavy!
Plus driving this car in the US is like being the most famous guy on the planet, it takes 20 minutes to fill up with fuel just from the onslaught of questions (and Back to the Future remarks) and people taking photos. It's crazy.

Here's a couple more pics from the track day, just because...

This guy came sideways around that corner, but the car snapped one way then the other before ending up in the barrier. 20 minutes later he was back on track after an inspection. His attitude was 'well it's damaged now, might as well continue enjoy the day'... proper behaviour!

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

Fitted with the Euro tailights (I think these are ugly and prefer the converted rear lights in the pic below this one)

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

https://www.cmoc.ca/attachment.php?a...ine=1321012754

again great pics and good call on the added hp. I think that was a complaint with the auto journalists as well re lack of power.

Great variety of Pony's. Couldn't have picked a better spot to take the action shots either, I'll bet the owners of those cars would love to have those framed and hung in the garage.

You know I hadn't thought of that... A couple of these ended up in the club magazine I think, but I only offered a couple as loads of people offered pictures too. Most photo's I take get forgotten about, left in some corner of a hardrive and rarely seen again. Only the photo's i've had published in books and various different magazines tend to have a longer lifespan!

I've always enjoyed photography and lots of people have said they would buy some of my pics, but i've never taken it further. These pics were just off my little camera if my memory is correct. It's just for fun with me, although it has led to some interesting opportunities - and some of my favourite photo's aren't even car related!

I couldn't attend the track day this summer unfortunately, so I missed out on the latest action, but I am hopeful to attend the next.

Same thing here re pics and forgotten etc

Hey Snakebite - do you have a thread or something with some pics of your GT500 in?
Obviously they are on the rarer side over here, i've only properly driven the 2010 & 2011 GT500's here in the UK. My friend has the only known 700+bhp (is it 720?) Shelby GT500 Supersnake in the UK, I think it's a 2008 model... But I have not driven it (yet...! I can dream...). Other than that I do not know many other GT500 owners here.

I'm just interested in seeing some better pics of your car, it looks great in black with the black wheels in those very small pics in your posts.

One day I will have a GT500, I have promised myself that. The 2010 GT500 I did 250 mile / 400 km round drive in at my old job is still one of my favourite cars to drive.

^^ I have a new computer but it has no pics. I have pics somewhere here, can someone help dig them up and post. Oh the SuperSnake is either 605hp or 750hp.

Ok cool, it's the 750 bhp variant then. There are a couple of the 605 bhp models in the UK, but no other 750 bhp known - although many say it is the only one here, I always say the only known car, because there could be another hiding away in someones very private car collection...

Would be great to see some pics of yours, but if no one turns anything up then it's not the end of the world...

oh when I am out tonight for my weekly walk I will post some from my laptop duh. The meds are killing my brain matter lol