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"Look, Dorothy, it's a Twister!"
"Golly, Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore"
Well, Dorothy, if you saw this Twister on the road, you were probably still in Kansas.
The story of the Mustang Twister ll goes back to 1969 when the Kansas City District Sales Office approached Ford about producing limited edition high performance Mustangs and Torinos that would be featured at a promotional event called "Total Performance Day" at the Kansas City International Raceway. 96 Twister Special Mustangs were produced. About half had the 428SCJ and, because there was a shortage of these engines, the remainder were equipped with the 351C engine. They debuted at the Speedway event and then were distributed to dealers in the region for sale.
In late 1984, the Fox bodies Mustang was getting a revised 210 hp 5.0 V8 for their '85 model and Kansas City DSO and Ford once again collaborated to produce a 15th anniversary Twister ll special regional edition. A total of 96 Twister lls were produced in either hatchback or converible GT models. They were equipped with the 210hp 4v carbed 5.0 with a 5 speed transmission although there were a handful equipped with an automatic (AOD) that utilized the 180ho fuel injected variant. All the options and accessories available on the GT were available on this special edition. The Twister ll trim package was not applied at the factory, but rather at the Claycomo Ford Transport Lot near Kansas City, MO. A bronze dash plate was to be applied to the glove box door at the dealership, but many were taken as souvenirs by salespeople or dealership personnel. The cars were offered in a few limited paint colors and the vast majority were done in Jalapena Red.
GMP really did their homework on this arcane piece of automotive americana. It even got a big thumbs up from the "1982-1993 Mustang GT Registry" who provided a good part of the sparse amount of info available on this special edition car. So if they're happy, who am I to argue? I love what I see, and according to the guys at the registry, I'm seeing what I should. Even that elusive brass plaque is modeled on the dash.
The Jalapena Red finish will knock your socks off and the proper matte charcoal gray trim really works well with the red. In a classy touch, the motif is carried into the interior with the luxe GT gray-on-gray interior accented with bright red piping on the upholstery. This model sits on blackwall Goodyear Eagles with beautifully scaled raised lettering and nicely scuffed tread pattern. Fit and finish on my sample is as good as it gets on this venerable tooling. One could have wished for a few upgrades like seatbelts or a bit more plumbing and wiring for, say, the brakes and the battery, but although showing its age, it still makes one heckuva presentation. It definitely looks like the quickest way to get from Kansas to Oz.
(10/04/2005)
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