Every once in a while, a car comes along that blows your socks off for no other reason than for the fact that its restoration and presentation far exceeds that of other examples. Such is the case with the 1968 Mustang High Country Special seen here.
Though commonly mistaken for an off-shoot product of the Mustang California Special (sharing its basic specifications with that car) , the Mustang High Country Special actually predated the California Special. In fact, the High Country Special was produced and marketed for the Colorado DSO as early as 1966 as well as 67. For the final model year of 1968, the High Country Special took on the an appearance package which was inspired by Shelby American's “Little Red” prototype. This appearance package would be shared with the GT/CS of the same year after California Dealers were so impressed by the Colorado DSO's ability to market a limited edition Mustang that they simply had to have their own!
For 1968, combined production totals of the GT/CS “California Special” and the High Country Special totaled only 4118 units with the High Country Special making up only 251 of those cars! To make this particular car even more spectacularly rare, of the 251 HCS Mustang produced, only 12 of those cars were optioned from the factory with Deluxe interior and only 2 of those examples were red interior cars!
The car seen before you today is a 1968 Mustang HCS which has been restored to a remarkable level of quality, workmanship, and concours correctness. Simply put, if you want to be assured that you are purchasing a collector car of supreme quality and integrity, it is always a good bet to purchase one from a marque expert. Such is the case of the ownership of this example as it is currently owned by the High Country Special Registrar (as well as MCA Gold Card Judge) Marty Rupp. In addition, the car has been owned also by the previous HCS registrar, Bob Teets. Upon purchase, Mr. Rupp embarked the sort of quality restoration which is never seen on HCS Mustangs simply because the end market value does not reflect the cost of the restoration itself. All told, this car could not be restored to this car's level of quality for double the asking price of the finished car. For that reason, truly well restored examples are few and far between.
Since completion of the restoration by Martry Rupp, this High Country Special has been showed in the Concours Trailered class at 5 different Mustang Club of America events..each time achieving the top Gold certification level. Most recently, the car was showed at the MCA Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska earlier this year where it once again attained the rare-air of a Gold award!
After obtaining its fifth MCA National gold award, Mr. Rupp has now decided to sell this wonderful HCS Mustang and has chosen Vernon Estes Classics to do the job of selling it for him! It goes without saying that a better, more correct, higher quality restoration of an HCS Mustang cannot be purchased anywhere else. To top it all off, you will not find a better documented car with this one being featured in all three editions of Paul Newitt's GT/CS Recognition Guide as well as being pictured in “Mustang Special Editions” by Brad Bowling and Jerry Heasley. Finally, this HCS comes documented with its original window sticker, original dealer sales invoice, original owners manual, Marti Report, 5 sets of MCA judging sheets from the car's various outings and, finally, a plethora of restoration receipts and other documents.
Unlike so many concours cars sputtering on and off trailers every weekend, this car runs and drives perfectly and is ready for its next owner to jump in an enjoy a pleasurable cruise at a moments notice. Overall, this particular example of a 1968 Mustang HCS is among the most striking cars which we have seen all year and it will certainly make for an exciting edition to any Mustang collector's stable.
