- Story by Sean McIntyre Photographs by Don Denton

Colwood鈥檚 Shawn Kosmuk never considered himself a Mustang fan, but instinct and circumstance had other plans. For the past seven years, Shawn has been hard at work rebuilding a vintage 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. With the car nearly restored to its original state, he鈥檚 prepared to concede he may have a little Mustang blood in his veins after all.

鈥淚鈥檝e been into cars my whole life, but I鈥檝e never typically been a Mustang guy. I just like that body style, and everybody says 1969 is the year to have if you鈥檙e going to have one,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 see cars as art and this one looks beautiful to me.鈥�

Shawn may not have realized it at the time, but his connection to the classic car started when he was a child, watching 1968鈥檚 Oscar-winning Bullitt. The movie features actor Steve McQueen driving a 1968 Mustang in what film critic Emanuel Levy called 鈥渙ne of the most exciting car chases in film history, a sequence that revolutionized Hollywood鈥檚 standards.鈥� The 11-minute ride through the streets of San Fransisco is widely thought to have cemented the film鈥檚 status as an instant classic.

Shawn may not be burning rubber and squealing turns amidst local landmarks like Fisherman鈥檚 Wharf and the Coit Tower, but he鈥檚 having a great time making do with the hills and curves of Southern Vancouver Island.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an absolute joy to go up around these hills. It smells and feels like you鈥檙e getting into a race car, and it鈥檚 just so freeing 鈥� you just go out for a cruise and listen to the engine,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 have so much fun driving it that it鈥檚 hard to find time to do the work on it.鈥�

Shawn figures he鈥檚 completed about 98 per cent of his restoration but jokes that work on a classic car is never really finished. He began working on it about seven years ago, when he picked it up near his former home near Caroline, Alberta, about 60 kilometres southwest of Red Deer. The car鈥檚 previous owner acquired it from a Seattle resident, but no longer had the time and energy to commit to what promised to be a massive restoration project.

鈥淲hen I got it it was half yellow and half black. The original colour was lime green,鈥� he says.

Shawn filled garbage bag after garbage bag with peelings from 11 layers of paint as he got down to bare metal. He carved out corrosion and welded in new rear-quarter panels, straightened out what appeared to be some minor collision damage on the front end and completely rebuilt the car鈥檚 395-horsepower engine.

When he moved to the coast about two years ago, the Mustang was one of the few personal possessions Shawn brought with him from the prairies. The result is a near-fully-restored classic muscle car that鈥欌�檚 attracting attention across the West Shore.

鈥淎nytime I stop, I鈥檓 constantly getting thumbs up and whistled at,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a typical muscle car. It鈥檚 a little bit loud, and it likes to go fast.鈥�

Since the Mustang has its original suspension and drum brakes, driving it serves up one heck of a workout. And despite the car鈥檚 sleek exterior, Shawn says, its handling characteristics require a 鈥渟pecial touch鈥� behind the wheel 鈥� something that鈥檚 given Shawn a new appreciation for how far car technology has evolved in the 50 years since this car first hit the road.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine what things were like before this because they thought this was amazing for its time,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to drive, but it鈥檚 also a good reminder of how far we鈥檝e come in such little time.鈥�