SEMA 2009: Galpin builds custom '69 Mustang right on the show floor
Posted Nov 6th 2009 4:57PM by Drew Phillips
While those of us in the media walked around the show floor at SEMA looking for the cool, the crazy, and the just plain awesome, there were people doing actual work. Real work. No, we're not talking about the security people that wouldn't let us in the show before 9:00am no matter how we tried to convince them, nor the food vendors charging $40 for a lousy pizza. We're talking about the guys at Galpin Auto Sports who spent each day of the show building a custom 1969 Ford Mustang from scratch.
The Mustang started off at the start of the show in literally thousands of pieces, and every time we walked by, we could see that the car was just a little bit closer to completion. The 427ci V8 was already in the Mustang the last time we saw it, and while we left before we could see the car completed, everyone at GAS seemed pretty confident that it would be finished by the time the show ended this afternoon. From the looks of all of the individual pieces, the end product should be pretty cool looking. Check out our high-res gallery below to see just how many parts it takes to build a '69 Mustang.
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MeiSooHaityu 5:05PM (11/06/2009)
Is that Mad Mike in the first picture? Is he installing a monitor under the hood :)
Cool idea, I can't remember anyone else doing something like that.
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aarontrini85 5:10PM (11/06/2009)
foose did a mustang on overhaulin at sema a few years back. its awesome that these guys are able to get that much work done in a few days
http://www.muscularmustangs.com/database2/overhaulin2new.jpg
montoym 5:44PM (11/06/2009)
Not exactly the same thing, but I know that numerous times at large VW shows they will have motor swap contests and such. I know of a few that have had project cars built over the course of a show weekend as well.
Perhaps not to this level, but it has been done before.
MeiSooHaityu 5:45PM (11/06/2009)
Yea, watching these shows it seems like they are always building cars within a very narrow time window. I'm sure they get very quick at it and still are able to maintain good quality.
dukeisduke 5:18PM (11/06/2009)
Thanks Drew, this is the article I've been asking for. Very cool.
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grand poobah 3:18PM (11/11/2009)
Do you know where the final product can be seen? Thanks
xtM450 5:21PM (11/06/2009)
Might as well rename autoblog to Camarostangblog.com
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cool_ozzyfromkalush 5:32PM (11/06/2009)
Never new that GAS boys had this much class.
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grand poobah 3:19PM (11/11/2009)
Do you know where the final, completed project can be seen? Thanks
Monica Dickey 6:04PM (11/06/2009)
So cool! Thanks for this one. I love green mustangs and this is the car that caused that! Well, not this exact car, but 69 mustangs...
Is there somewhere to see the finished product?
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grand poobah 3:20PM (11/11/2009)
I agree, I'm trying to find the finished project as well, but Autoblog is being very asinine with this whole affair.
CDave 6:25PM (11/06/2009)
Reminds me of Petit Le Mans this year where the Acura team built a new car from the tub out for Sharp/Brabham in 24 hours. Cept theirs had to race, and it ended up 6th overall.
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Allen 7:28PM (11/06/2009)
I'm betting they built the car beforehand and disassembled it before the show in order to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises. Still a neat idea though.
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RLQ 8:25PM (11/06/2009)
cool
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grand poobah 12:05PM (11/07/2009)
So where can I see the final product?
I have to say, Autoblog did a halfass job with this one, good job.
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bodyinkmustang 3:19PM (11/07/2009)
It was nice to see the car in so many pieces there. The stage was covered with the parts on monday and when i left on Thursday the car looked amazing even as a work in progress. I still couldnt believe the price of the pizza though! $19 for 2 slices and a soda. You can actually see the outlines of the sign on the top right in red and green. Vaughns carbon fiber Mustang was insane!
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Kevin 10:56AM (11/08/2009)
I'll take mine in grabber blue with a wood rim steering wheel, please.
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GTX141 11:17AM (11/08/2009)
They fired it up around 1pm on Friday, and Vaughn Gittin took it outside to the test track and drifted the hell out of it. Car sounded awesome!!
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grand poobah 1:55PM (11/08/2009)
Do you have any pictures of the final product? Thanks