Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9411030002
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It was Calypso Coral.
The engine, a Boss 302.
It was a 1970 Mustang, and his dad, who was assistant service manager at Vinton Motor Company, drove it past Barton and his buddies as they walked home from East Vinton Elementary School.
``I can remember those Mustangs sitting in the car lot at the time. But I never rode in one until I had mine,'' Barton said.
Barton's Mustang is exactly like the one he dreamed about at age 9. But it took more than dreams to crank his up.
After searching 10 months in trade magazines, he finally located one in Charlotte, N.C., and brought it home on a trailer in March 1990. He drove it for the first time last April to have the front end aligned and to get an inspection sticker.
The four years in between cost Barton $27,100, every weekend with the exception of a few, a lot of traveling to find original parts, and a few hard-learned lessons.
The purchase price was $5,850, so imagine what replacement parts cost. But he restored the Mustang to Concourse condition, which is as close to original as possible.
Barton's Boss is ``probably top of the line - as good as you'll find,'' said Rick Payne, show coordinator of the Roanoke Valley Mustang Club. ``It ranks with some of the best.''
He said a lot of parts have been reproduced by manufacturers, making it easier in some cases to find replacements. But a lot of small, obscure parts have to be hunted down.
``The secret to restoring one is to maintain the original state as close as possible. There's all grades of restoration, from one to 10, and [Barton's] is probably a nine or 10,'' Payne said.
Barton estimates his Mustang is about 98 percent original.
At the fifth annual show of the Roanoke Valley Mustang Club this year, Barton's won Best in Show and first in the Boss class. At the 30th anniversary Mustang Celebration in Charlotte in April, Barton won a gold in his Concourse Boss class.
He said judges considers restoration, workmanship and correctness of originality. His tires - at $160 each - are bias ply.
The car has the original smog system, so it's street legal. The shift - four on the floor - is an anachronism.
The shaker scoop is made so that when you have the throttle wide open, the flaps open up and the engine can breathe better. More air, more power.
Which is what the Boss is meant for. It never came equipped with air conditioning, because that would have taken away some oomph.
The Boss' 302 engine is different from the ones in other Mustangs made in the 1970s. Only 7,100 of this kind were made because it was for high-performance racing.
``When this car was made, people knew it was going to be collectible. They would save the car parts after racing them,'' Barton said.
Looking for parts took Barton to swap meets from Charlotte to Columbus, Ohio, to Carlisle, Pa., and into the countryside of Floyd County.
``I liked the travel. It's one of the things I liked the most. People who have cars like this - muscle cars - live out in rural areas. They just like fast cars. They've got to have fast cars when they're running moonshine,'' he said.
Barton probably knows about things like that. His dad was a police officer for 27 years and also taught him how to tinker with cars. Together, they restored Barton's sister's '65 black convertible Mustang. She won Best in Paint at the '94 Roanoke show.
Barton said that when his car was a year old, it was stolen and the motor was taken out. From that time on, it never had an original Boss engine until Barton restored it.
Four years ago, when he brought it home, the Mustang had no motor and was rusty under the hood. The seats were torn; the floorboards were rusted through; the paint was in bad shape; and some of the windows had to be replaced.
Barton did everything except paint it. He even built a hoist on which to suspend the car while he worked on it. And now, with 91,900 miles (1,200 of which Barton contributed), ``it drives good.''
``I spent so much time on this one, I just want to drive my car and enjoy it. When I drive it, I'm always with the car. I don't park it in parking lots and walk off. I try to get out on roads with little traffic. I don't go out on Williamson Road on Saturday night,'' he said, referring to an area known for weekend cruisers.
Payne, who has a '66 Mustang, described it as a Catch-22 situation.
``If you don't drive your car, you don't get the satisfaction. But if you do drive it much, some of these crazy fools out here are going to run into it. And you can't afford to leave it.''
Right now, Barton plans to take a break from weekend restoration, polish his Calypso Coral Boss once in a while and take it out on pretty days.
``On a nice day, windows down ... it feels good.''
by CNB