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Meet Rob Reynolds and Andy Cof-

fey, the owners and operators of GT’s

Mustang Shop in Springtown, Texas.

GT’s Mustang Shop is an enterprise

that focuses on the restoration of 1964

1/2 through 1970 Mustangs. Rob and

Andy specialize in the metal work.

They don’t finish a car out, but when

a car leaves their shop the metal work

is incredibly well done.

Of course there’s a back story

here. When my wife Pat and I finally

decided to restore our ‘67 GT500,

67400F4A03179, we didn’t know

where to begin. We hadn’t been active

in motorsports since we stopped drag

racing more than twenty years earlier.

We began by looking in Mustang

magazines and going to local car

shows where the range of opinions as

to who did what, prices and quality

was overwhelming. The opinions and

options were so different we still didn’t

know what to do. In an odd way,

maybe that, in itself, was useful

knowledge.

My thinking was that Pat and I

would do the grunt work and sub out

the specialty work. One thing that

happened very quickly was Pat saying

this was not going to be a husband and

wife team effort. “

No way!

” was she

going down that path. The next real-

ization was that my abilities and facil-

ities were not up to snuff to do the car

the way we wanted it done. With those

basics being settled we started looking

at restoration shops. In short order,

Danny Walker and Mid-Cities Mus-

tang, in Euless, Texas, became the

shop we were interested in.

Having agreed on the path for-

ward, Pat and I visited Mid-Cities, in-

troduced ourselves, and told Danny

what we had in mind. Of course he

does this for a living and was ready to

have the car picked up in a day or two.

Pat and I were still worried about

what he would think once he saw the

car so we badgered him into driving

out to look it over before we did any-

thing. A very polite and patient man,

Mr. Walker obliged our request.

On a rainy October morning,

Danny and Rob came out to look at the

car. Years spent in the Northeast, drag

racing and sitting in various storage

locations had taken its toll. It was still

intact and Danny said it was a good

car to work with, but short of disas-

sembly and media blasting we

wouldn’t know for sure what we faced.

Pat and I couldn’t fault that logic.

What really sold us on Mid-Cities

was Rob’s enthusiasm. He looked at

the car from a dozen angles, walked

around it a few times touching and

rubbing various panels, and looked it

over again. At that point he wasn’t

even trying to hide his enthusiasm;

Rob really wanted to take on our car.

That clinched it: Mid-Cities it was.

Before too long the car was at Mid-

Cities Mustang. We were still learning

the ropes, so Pat and I were Danny

Walker’s first, and probably only, cus-

tomers to ask for a signed receipt for

our car. Again, that polite gentleman

just smiled and went along with us.

Mid-Cities Mustang is a classic

car repair and restoration shop that

specializes in all aspects of the older

Fords and Mustangs, including insur-

ance work, routine maintenance, disc

brake conversions, engine overhauls,

custom body work, full restorations

and paint.

Over the time our car was there

Pat and I spent what time we could at

the shop and came to know Rob and

one of the other guys, Andy, pretty

well. Both spent many, many hours on

3179’s sheet metal and fiberglass. This

series of pictures doesn’t capture

everything they did, but it does offer a

glimpse into the extent of damage that

needed to be repaired. That’s Andy

working on the cowl and floor.

The SHELBY AMERICAN

Summer 2017 68

Sometimes they overlap.

– Bill Devlin