I came across this forum by accident and felt like posting something here.
I knew Joe as a kid. My dad was a big part of the Detroit street racing/drag race scene from the early 60's through the early 90's and was good friends with Joe. I remember the Mustang you are restoring and reading the article in the magazine when it came out. Joe would race Jim Wanger's built Monza. Wangers had some young guy drive for him and Joe always drove his own car. they usually raced out on 696 late at night on Thursdays and it was a big rivalry between the two cars.In '79 Joe had a new Mustang Pacecar with a rumored 351, not sure if a Windsor or a Cleveland, that was a pretty quick street car for the time, which he kept for a long time. Joe's next real race car after he sold the 'Mustang II was a '81 blue fastback Mustang built by I believe Roush with a 351 Cleveland, I remember going to his house and my dad asking Joe to start it for me so i could hear it, I remember how loud that '81 was and how it thumped and the great smell of that race fuel coming out of the short exhaust. Joe ended up selling the '81 to the guy who owned Popeye's chicken from what I was told. In '87 or '88 Joe had a new black Mustang GT built with a turbo 5 liter, but it was more of a top end car, it look like an every day GT, lowered a little with stock wheels and I don't think he ever got it to run right from what my dad said. A lot of memories about those days with my dad and his buddies and their bad ass rides!