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Port Richey Rod Run at Coast Buick GMC Hosted By Keystone Motor Club

Event Details

• Start: May 13 2023 10:00 am
• End: May 13 2023 2:00 pm
• Venue: Coast Buick GMC
• Address: 10133 US 19 New Port Richey 34668
• Categories: Saturday, West Coast of Florida
• Registration Fee: Free
• Phone: (813) 839-4281
• Email: Bobfixesitup@yahoo.com
• Website: https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...-car-club.html
• Facebook Page:
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/165675222253115

  Facebook Post

This is your invitation to The 2023 Port Richey Rod Run at Coast Buick GMC Hosted by Keystone Motor Club
at 10133 US 19 New Port Richey 34668. Rods, Customs, Classics,etc Show Car Entrance is through the Big Gate on US 19. Free Spectator Entrance Gate is South of the Main Building at Graphic Drive Collision Center.
Both show cars and spectators are eligible for Door Prizes and Free Food. Early Roll in at 9AM gets a good spot next to the gate and a spot under the shade trees for lawn chairs. Email Pre-register at no cost saves time now or register inside the main building with entrance between the two Giant Palm Trees. Period Correct Car Show DJ Music by Keystone Bob. Roll in together park together, Free Car Show Magazines with Car Show Schedules. Free Burgers and Dogs from the grill located in the "Certified Service Tunnel" Plus Free Chips and Drinks. 50/50 Club Participation Award. Trophy presentation is at 130PM followed by respectful departure.
Pre-registration Email Contact is Bob Vail, bobfixesitup@yahoo.com, 813-839-4281 with 24 hour recording.
Day of Show Cell phone is 813-452-7807

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1969 Mustang GT R-Code



Shelby hunt leads to Ford engineering Mustang GT R-Code test car surprise.



In 1989, Henry Isaksen, an architect from Sturgeon Bay, Wis., received a phone call from Roger Strege, a local building inspector and longtime friend who told him there was a white 1968 Shelby sitting in a barn only minutes away.



From a distance, Isaksen looked at the weathered, white rolling body shell and immediately knew that it wasn’t a ’68 Shelby. Instead, it was a rusty, disassembled 1969 Mustang GT hardtop coupe missing the engine and rear end. Even though it wasn’t what he was looking for, Isaksen looked at the car’s VIN and something caught his eye. The VIN contained an “R,” indicating this coupe left the factory as a Ram Air 428 Cobra Jet car. He asked the owner what had happened to the engine and rear end. His response was, “I bought it like it is, pretty much a rolling chassis, and my plan was to put a 390 engine into it and make it a daily driver


n 1989, Henry Isaksen, an architect from Sturgeon Bay, Wis., received a phone call from Roger Strege, a local building inspector and longtime friend who told him there was a white 1968 Shelby sitting in a barn only minutes away.
“I don’t know a whole lot about its condition,” Strege told Isaksen. “A client told me about it, but he’s never been to the barn to see it in person.”
During a prior conversation, Isaksen had mentioned to Strege that he had an interest in buying a Shelby.
“I’ll come by, pick you up and we can go check it out,” Strege said. “It might be worth your time to see it in person.”
Isaksen asked Strege for the location, and when his Strege shared the address, Isaksen couldn’t believe it.
“Are you kidding me?,” Isaksen asked. “I’ve known the owners of the property for years; they live less than 10 miles from me.”
Isaksen and Strege drove to the property. When they arrived, Isaksen said, “I can’t believe we might have found a ’68 Shelby here.” They walked into the barn and were greeted by a man, and when asked, the man confirmed he was the owner of the car. He’d recently bought it and needed a place to store it. The owners of the barn were family friends and offered to store it for him.
According to Marti Auto Works, of the 299,821 Mustangs built by Ford for 1969, more than half — 150,637, to be exact — were coupes. Furthermore, just 138 of those coupes came with the R-code (Ram Air) 428 Cobra Jet engine, and of those, 86 had the four-speed transmission.

Freeze Frame Image LLC

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An R-code surprise

From a distance, Isaksen looked at the weathered, white rolling body shell and immediately knew that it wasn’t a ’68 Shelby. Instead, it was a rusty, disassembled 1969 Mustang GT hardtop coupe missing the engine and rear end. Even though it wasn’t what he was looking for, Isaksen looked at the car’s VIN and something caught his eye. The VIN contained an “R,” indicating this coupe left the factory as a Ram Air 428 Cobra Jet car. He asked the owner what had happened to the engine and rear end. His response was, “I bought it like it is, pretty much a rolling chassis, and my plan was to put a 390 engine into it and make it a daily driver.”
The 1969 Mustang GT coupe as found in 1989. It didn’t look like much, but the VIN indicated it was an original R-code car, making it worth restoration.

Freeze Frame Image LLC
The Shaker hood was lying flat across a few bales of hay; the scoop and a four-speed transmission were nearby. Before leaving, Isaksen asked if the car was for sale, and the owner indicated he might be interested in selling it.
“I left that day with a lot of unanswered questions, my curiosity piqued,” Isaksen recalled. “The car had intrigued me; I knew it was a rare Mustang. I returned to the barn a few days later with Jim McKuen, a knowledgeable Ford mechanic who knew a lot about these Cobra Jet Mustangs. We looked around for a while, then Jim poked me in the ribs and pointed at the four-speed transmission. Jim said, ‘That’s the right four-speed for this car.’ We stepped aside and he said, ‘If you can buy the car, do it. This is a rare Mustang and worth restoring.’”
In 1969, the Mustang’s trademark rear quarter vent went from being concave to a convex bolt-on ornament. The vent would go on hiatus starting with the next model year.
Upon hearing McKuen’s recommendation, Isaksen made the owner an offer and he accepted, but before handing over any money, Isaksen wanted to make sure everything came with the car, including the four-speed transmission. Reluctantly, the seller agreed to include it with the car. It turned out to be the first step to a decades-long journey from a rolling chassis to a concours-restored 1969 Mustang GT hardtop.

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Documenting a Ford test car

After getting the Mustang home, Isaksen knew that he’d made the discovery and purchase of a lifetime. Once he started researching the car and breaking down its VIN, the rarity of the ’69 Mustang GT hardtop started to become much clearer. According to the 428 Cobra Jet Registry, for the 1969 model year, Ford produced a mere 86 GT hardtop coupes with the R-code 428 CJ and four-speed transmission. He also learned the district sales office (DSO) code of “89” in the car’s VIN represented “Transportation Services,” indicating that the car was ordered for Ford use, perhaps for testing or as part of an in-house fleet.
This 428 Cobra Jet engine is equipped with Ram Air, and is good for 335 bhp at 5,200 rpm and 440 lb.-ft. of torque at 3,400 rpm.

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A hint of what lurks under the hood... R-code (Ram Air)

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Fortunately for Isaksen, Lois Eminger, a Ford employee who sold copies of original Ford invoices for many years, provided copies of the hardtop’s factory invoices, so Isaksen quickly learned that his GT hardtop had originally been sold to Ford Division Product Engineering on Sept. 20, 1968, for delivery to the I.R. Building Garage in Dearborn, Mich. The invoices also confirmed the car’s original options: GT Equipment Group; 3.25:1 Traction-Lok differential; F70x14 white-letter tires; Wimbledon White paint with red Interior Décor Group; AM Radio; front head restraints (headrests); power steering and brakes; and Power Ventilation.

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For 1969, the Mustang retained its deep-set and hooded oval grille and headlamps that had been part of the model’s mystique since its mid-1964 introduction.

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Isaksen continued his fact-finding mission to learn the GT hardtop’s history. He sent a letter to the editor of Old Cars, who published his plea for information in the “Letters to the Editor” column. Isaksen knew he had found the needle in a haystack when he was contacted by Old Cars reader Tom Sherman, who told Isaksen that he had purchased the Mustang GT hardtop with 6,800 miles in March 1970 from Van Drisse Lincoln-Mercury in Green Bay, Wis.
“At the time of the purchase, the dealership told Tom that they had received the CJ GT hardtop with other cars ordered from Ford,” Isaksen said.
“In order to get cars they wanted, dealerships were occasionally required to take cars Ford wanted to get rid of,” Sherman told Isaksen.
A pair of Ford invoices, one dated Sept. 20, 1968, and the other dated Oct. 17 with updated pricing, each listed a code number and a name: “306-T-763, C. Jones.” That information provided Isaksen with another clue to chase, leading him to Utah restorer Armond D’Agostini, who also owns a 1969 R-code hardtop with a “T” number and “C. Jones” on the invoice.
Armond explained, “His name was Chet Jones, and he was the Ford engineer who ordered the car. He passed away, but I managed to get to know one of his younger engineers.”
Through the contact, Isaksen came closer to discovering his 1969 GT hardtop’s original use at Ford.
The engineer wrote, “Chet Jones was an engineer in Car Vehicle Development in the Experimental Vehicles Building at the Dearborn Proving Grounds. He worked in Powertrain Development where we tested prototypes with future engines, transmissions and drivelines to verify that they performed acceptably and met Ford’s Acceptance Specifications for drivability. Chet ordered production vehicles for development departments. Usually, these cars were tested to verify that the production cars met the same standards as the prototype vehicles, which had been tested months prior to normal production start-up.”
The engineer further explained, “Our test vehicles, whether prototypes or normal production, had a ‘T’ assigned to them, like the 306-T-763 on your invoice and on the brass tag that would be attached to your car’s radiator core support. The ‘T’ stands for test vehicle; pool cars had a ‘P’ in their number. After the development department was finished with the vehicle and since it was still a valid production vehicle with a VIN, it was transferred to the ‘B-lot’ where used company vehicles were sold to employees or Ford dealers. Apparently, your vehicle was bought by a Ford dealer, maybe the one in Green Bay, WI, where the first owner bought it.”

Bringing back the Mustang GT

Isaksen’s persistence and fact finding had discovered far more than he expected. As if the hardtop didn’t already have enough going for it as a rare GT R-code 428 Cobra Jet muscle car with a four-speed, Isaksen had also uncovered an intriguing back story to the car. As such, the rough Mustang doubly deserved the restoration that Isaksen had already begun undertaking. One of his first steps was to employ the services of Jim Cowles from Shelby Parts and Restoration, who agreed to collect the necessary parts to build a date-code-correct 428-cid V-8 Cobra Jet replacement engine.
Like the outside, the trunk of the Mustang GT coupe has been authentically restored with its jack in the proper place.

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In 2016, some 27 years after acquiring the Mustang, Isaksen gave Cowles the green light to start a complete restoration to return the rest of the car to its factory-built condition, as delivered to Ford Engineering in 1968 as a test vehicle. For body and paint, the hardtop was sent to Troy Kuyoth Body and Custom in Strafford, Wis., where it was completely disassembled and mounted on a rotisserie for sheet metal work and paint application. Later, in the fall of 2020, with the reassembly well underway at Shelby Parts and Restoration, Isaksen got a call from Jim Cowles.
“Jim wanted me to know that he had been diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor,” Isaksen said, “As a result, he had sent my car and several others to Troy Kuyoth for completion. Jim passed away on January 4, 2021.”
Kuyoth completed the restoration last May. Because the brass tag was missing when Henry purchased the car, an accurate replacement was recreated and obtained from Mustang expert Ed Meyer. Kuyoth delivered the GT hardtop to Isaksen on June 11.
“That was the first time I ever sat in the car,” Isaksen said.
After 33 years of research, documentation, fact finding and many years of looking at the rusty and weathered Mustang GT hardtop in his garage, Isaksen can finally enjoy the results of his dedicated investigation and relentless determination to add an intriguing backstory to a rare and interesting Mustang muscle car.
A reproduction of the original brass tag indicating the Mustang was initially a Ford Motor Co. test vehicle was mounted on the Mustang’s radiator support.

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A familial fondness

Isaksen and his wife, Jean, have two sons, Jeff, and Marc. When the boys turned 16, they were allowed $5,000 for a car. At least one of their sons was inspired by the 1969 Mustang GT coupe to own a Mustang of his own.
“In 1986, Jeff asked for a new Chevy Cavalier,” Isaksen said. “In 1988, Marc requested a 1969 Mustang Mach 1. We finally located one in Kansas City.
“Ultimately, Marc spent a lot of time and money on the Mustang, but eventually ended up selling it to a local mechanic, who finished it and resold it,” Isaksen said.
Although his Mach 1 is gone, Marc still shares a passion for Mustangs with his father. He helped his father prepare the car for its photo shoot, and during the process, the two shared stories about the journey the family had been on with the ’69 Mustang GT hardtop from the time it was discovered and purchased and the decades it took to see it returned to its factory form.

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Announcing The Grand Marshall for Port Richey's Fall Rod Run will be Rusty Gillis,

Famous Record holding Drag Racer and owner of the Rusty Gillis Performance Restoration Shop,

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Holder of multiple NHRA Drag Racing Records, Rusty Gillis Will Be Grand Marshall for Port Richey Fall Rod Run at Coast Buick GMC on October 14 2023.

Rusty Gillis will be on hand Conversing, Signing Autographs, and Available for Photos between the hours of 10AM and 2PM at Coast Buick GMC.

Stop by and say hello on October 14. 10133 US19 Port Richey Florida 34668.


His Multiple Record Holding car will be on display next to Registration. Bring your camera and something to be signed. Reproduce this at the library, at home or Fedex-Kinkos and bring it if you want it signed.

You could easily say gasoline-in particular, racing fuel......is in Rusty Gillis' blood. His father was an avid racer in upstate New York before moving the family to Florida. Growing up, Rusty became passionate about racing, accompanying his father to Sunshine Raceway in St. Petersburg, Florida. He did pit-crew duty to help his father, learning the ropes, getting to know racing. It wasn't until Rusty attended the 1966 U.S. Nationals that he became addicted to drag racing. He went to Daytona Beach Junior College, majoring in Automotive Technology, ironically on a scholarship from Ford.

In 1968, Rusty tried to buy one of the 50 '6811/42 Cobra Jet Mustang fastbacks Ford built for Super Stock competition, but they were all gone. He opted instead for a '69 428 Cobra Jet Fairlane Cobra, racing in the F/S class to get his feet wet. His first outing was at the NHRA Spring Nationals in Dallas that year. En route to Dallas, Rusty met and befriended NHRA Super Stock racer Randy Payne. Randy showed him kindness, offering to help where he could. Their friendship became especially significant when Rusty broke his Cobra's Detroit Locker at Dallas. He cracked a 12.87 at 102 mph and lost to a Corvette with a 12.66 at 112 mph timeslip. Jokingly, Rusty says, "That Detroit Locker was the only free part I ever got from Ford." Later that year, he would suffer the misfortune of engine failure at Gainesville, Florida.

Rusty's father was truck manager at Grant Ford in St. Petersburg, and he had the good fortune of knowing a lot of people in the car business. He asked Rusty if he would go to Boyertown, Pennsylvania, to pick up a van for Grant Ford and dead-head it back to Florida. Rusty took advantage of that request and drove to Concord, New Hampshire, to see Randy about an engine for his Fairlane Cobra, but Randy couldn't help him.

Later, he went to the U.S. Nationals at Indy with a buddy who was racing a 289 Comet. He met veteran Ford Super Stock racer Hubert Platt. He crewed for Hubert for two months, visiting racing venues in Chicago, Detroit, Davenport, Tulsa, Dallas, Toledo, the Northeast, and Atlanta, then back home to Florida. Hubert had Rusty pick up a new V-8 Maverick from Paul Harvey Ford in Indianapolis and drive it to Atlanta. Rusty also piloted Hubert's F-350 car hauler out of Dallas for a long trek to New Hampshire to witness history firsthand. Tasca Ford was bringing a '69 Boss 494 to Epping to lay down a challenge-any street car that could beat the Boss would win $1,000.

During one of their many road trips together, Hubert told Rusty about a '68 Super Stock Mustang for sale for $3,500. Rusty rushed home and borrowed the money from his uncle. His record was 11.70 in SS/FA competition. During Rusty's time on the road with Hubert, he learned a lot about professional drag racing.

In 1970, Rusty drove to Pomona, California, for his first NHRA Winternationals. He didn't do well; he was the slowest in class with his '68 fastback. The best news was beating a Camaro, which lost only because the guy redlighted. Rusty staged against Stacey Shields, who was driving a '68 fastback built by Holman/Moody/Stroppe in Long Beach and sponsored by Paul Harvey Ford out of Indy. Rusty received good advice from the head of Ford's drag-racing program at the time. He suggested Rusty shut down at the 1,000-foot mark to keep from going under record. Rusty clocked a 12.00 at 104 mph, getting a win over Stacey. News for Rusty only got better as he refined his technique and raced all over the southeast in NHRA Super Stock. He set the SS/FA record at Suffolk, Virginia, that year.

The following year, Rusty returned to Pomona, winning class and passing tech inspection. He went on to Phenix City, Alabama, and set the NHRA mph record at 120.64 mph. At West Palm Beach, Florida, he cracked the AHRA record at 11.46 mph at 119.84 mph.

Toward the end of the '70 season, Hubert told Rusty about a '69 Mustang SportsRoof body he found and wanted to know if Rusty wanted it. It was a 428 Super Cobra Jet fastback that had been one of Ford's Boss 302 test cars. It was a factory test mule that found its way into private ownership. The truth is, only factory teams had cars like this, and Paul Harvey Ford was one of those teams. Rusty bought the car and transferred everything from his '68 fastback over to the '69 SportsRoof. The '69 was a pinch heavier and ran in the SS/GA class. Once Rusty got the car in proper tune, he repainted it Pearl White, with a splash of Candyapple red and blue.

Rusty admits the car was disappointing until he installed 302 front springs and a better C6 transmission. Times improved dramatically-a 121.39 mph at Amarillo for a strong shot of self-esteem. Performance only got better with time and experience, with wins all over the country in NHRA Super Stock. Rusty won the '71 Miami National with an 11.24, beating an 11.45-second record. Another quarter-mile pass, this time for Firestone tire testing, netted Rusty an 11.50-second e.t. at Gainesville. He again won in class at Pomona that year.

During Rusty's racing career with this Boss 302 testbed, he accomplished a lot from coast to coast in racing venues both large and small. He ran consistent 11-second quarter-mile times, set records, and never forgot the people who helped him along the way. In 1974, Rusty decided it was time to hang up his helmet and park the Mustang. Much of that motivation came from what was going on at the time. Performance on the street was fading due to high insurance rates, governmental pressure, and gasoline prices. Rusty wouldn't drive this car again until 1990 when it was raced in C/SA competition. His best time was 11.13 seconds-which means he's not getting older, he's getting better !

In 2004, Rusty opened Classic Mustangs, which became Gillis Performance Restorations, a restoration and race shop where he practices his craft in the Tampa area. (www.gillisrestorations.com) His first order of business was to completely restore this Mustang Super Stocker to the as-raced condition of his glory days. Southern Polyurethanes (www.southernpolyurethanes.com), and his good friend Barry, made all of this glistening Candyapple possible.

When Rusty reflects on 37 years as a winner, he's inspired most by the people who helped him get there. He says it never would have been possible without the friends he has known for the better part of a lifetime.

Rusty, You are truly Best In Class!
We are proud to have you as Grand Marshall of The Port Richey Rod Run at Coast Buick GMC


Motortrend Magazine contributed to this Biography of Rusty Gillis