Duncan Southall's *Mustang*

 

  This Awesome Photo was done by Tristin Godsey, the owner of Trystram Portrait Artistry from Roseburg, Oregon

 

 

 If this 1965 Mustang could talk , it would tell you how it traveled across our great country from coast to coast and seen places many of us have never been . This is a the story of Duncan Southall and his journey with his 1965 Mustang (in his words), a story that is still being written.

My story with my Mustang is a unique tale. This was the first car I ever bought, and it’s been mine since High School. Although my high school experience ended up with me dropping out and joining the Marines. It was important to mention how my experience with my Mustang guided my life. I received a myriad of tickets as a 16-year-old with a passion for street racing. I had racked up reckless and careless driving tickets, exhibition of speed and those open tickets were prohibitive for my entrance in the Marines at 17. Luckily, my father took me to court hearing where I was at the mercy of the Judge. My dad informed the judge that I was a knucklehead and that these tickets were impeding me shipping off to Boot Camp for the Marines. With luck he dismissed those tickets and off I went to the Marines. However, way before I lost my ability to drive and have insurance, my father attempted to thwart my ownership of my beloved Mustang. He did this in hopes to get my grades back up to par and stop the run-ins with the law. My father said if I sold my Mustang and stop skipping school, he would help me buy a new 1981 Dodge Challenger.

Fast forward to a year or so later and I had been stationed at Camp Pendleton , California without my car. I went home on leave in the winter and without any real thought, I drove my Mustang across country. The portion of that drive through Texas happened during an ice storm and somehow, I made it through without a scratch. It was a miracle, as many other vehicles were sliding off the road and the 18-wheeler trucks were jack knifed everywhere through Dallas and Fort Worth. The ice storm continued all the way through Midland and Odessa, Texas. Upon arrival at Camp Pendleton, California not every Marine who lived in the barracks owned a car. I did not have or need seatbelts then. Later I would install original 1965 Shelby Racing Seat Belts which were soon required to drive on base and in California.

I drove my Mustang all over Southern California and found Smokey’s Speed Shop in Oceanside. They helped me keep my car in perfect racing condition and gave me major breaks on car parts and services. I was still 18 or maybe 19 and I was not making a lot of money as a Marine. I owe an awful lot to those guys for their kindness, I used to cruise the streets Escondido and occasionally race stoplight to stoplight. I ventured up to parts of Los Angeles, Pomona and Puente Hills and did the same.

I ended up being stationed in San Francisco and then in Portland. I deployed and left my car in a parking lot on Camp Pendleton. Then when I transferred to Washington DC, I left my car in Phoenix, AZ. Whenever possible, I used to drive my Mustang down to Rosarita and Ensenada, Mexico. I also spent many long weekends with my folks in Arizona. That drive from San Diego to Phoenix is forever burned in my memory. Then I left the Marines, somehow where I started, back in San Diego, California.  I drove my Mustang back up to Oregon. I drove it on Campus at the University of Oregon where I may still have unpaid parking tickets for not feeding the meter in front of the Erb Memorial Union (EMU) or then called the fishbowl.
Later, I became a Commissioned Officer in the Army and drove my car to Armor Basic School at Ft Knox, Kentucky. Then to additional training at Ft. Benning, GA. From my military experiences, I traveled back to the Bay Area in my Mustang, where I taught Middle School by the way of Southern Utah and Madison, Wisconsin. I have driven to see the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky and  Badlands National Park, Walls Drug Store and Mt. Rushmore. I really had some memorable times in my Mustang.  

But since 9-11 it has been a different dynamic, as I have been trying to protect my Mustang in my absence. I was recalled to Active-Duty Service in the Military. I have since deployed to Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, New Orleans, and Lake Charles, Louisiana in service of our Nation. During those deployments I had to leave my car in storage units or unattended in my own garage in Portland, Oregon. Some of those deployments were many months or years away from my Mustang. This was in part due to hospitalization from combat wounds in Iraq. During that time, the Mustang suffered vandalism, near theft, and fell into disrepair. Ironically, my starter broke and that helped to deter the theft. My tools were also stolen and I’ve yet to replace them all.

Due to exposure to combat and moral injuries, I developed PTSD. To combat PTSD, I wanted to get my Mustang up and running and try to attend the local car shows. I had met many fellow car enthusiasts with my Mustang journey and had become good friends with many. One of those great friends and Army buddy who I met along the way also lived in Portland, Oregon. I had high hopes to find Jim and relive some those days of glory. However, I found out that he had sold his house and moved away. I was not able to find him anywhere.
Some years later, I had driven my Mustang to a shop in Salem, Oregon to get a tune up and oil change. Upon picking my car up later in the day the shop owner said that someone driving by had stopped and said that he recognized my car. I have had that distinctive reverse bubble hood scoop on my white Fastback forever and it does stand out. 

 The shop owner said that this person was named Jim and he knew the owner of that Mustang and said that he was an old friend. It was my friend Jim, someone who I had been looking to reconnect since my return from Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Sometimes a person can remember a car better then they can remember a name , in this case a friendship was reunited . 

Today Duncan & Jim are still great friends,and Jim is helping Duncan restore his next project , a Ford Torino .

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Thanks Duncan for sharing your story and your Mustang with us,we can't wait to hear about the future adventures you may have with your cars. 

                                                                   Photo's courtesy of Duncan Southall 2021