I know a lot of people really bash the Eleanor "trend" or Eleanor cars in general and I've heard a lot of the arguments. Some are valid. But in the new issue on page 22 discussing best builds the comment was that the trend was finally passing. How do you judge this? I have been attending Mustang car shows, Goodguys shows and other big shows and have only seen a few "Eleanor's" since the movie was big. So interest in the car has been steady in my opinon but never over powering. The shows have been in the Midwest and southern part of the country so maybe there are more out west I don't know. I see ton's of Shelby Clones, Tributes, etc. I don't recall anyone ever refer to that as a trend. In the same article there is an Eleanor-like convertible thrown in like "look at this cool car" and then the comment on the next page is giving the impression that we should want the trend to stop. I'm a little confused where MM stands on the whole Eleanor thing.
I obviously have a passion for the Eleanor look and like what the interest in Eleanor has done for the aftermarket for 67/68 Mustangs. I have had 67/68 Stangs since the early 80's and the aftermarket was always way ahead for the 1st generation cars. It was hard to find parts to restore or modify the 67/68's. I have enjoyed the flood of cool things available now. I share the frustration of what it has done to the price of entry level project cars but the whole "trend" thing means the cars will be around a long time. When I was young and wanted a Mustang I always worried there wouldn't be any when I got old enough. Now I can buy a brand new 67 FB if I wanted to! On the cover is a beautiful 67 Shelby vert tribute car that I have seen up close at a couple shows. I doubt that it would have been as easy to build this car had it not been for the Eleanor trend creating such an interest in these cars. Anyway I read the Hoofbeats and learned there was a forum and decided to express my opinon. Thanks
Craig aka TARAfied1 (wife's name is TARA, that makes me TARA-fied!)
 

I've found it interesting that the general public loves the Eleanor cars yet people within the Mustang hobby seem to despise it. We ran a number of covers with Eleanor-style cars and they always sold well on the newsstand. But we also got letters from readers saying they had seen enough of Eleanor cars.

Where does MM stand on Eleanor? I would say that we've probably covered it enough over the past 8 years. (Yes, I know it's hard to believe that the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds came out in 2000). However, now it seems people are building cars, particularly 67-68 fastbacks, that have the Eleanor look but with a little different twist here and there to make the cars more personalized.

Donald Farr
Editor  

I am a purist, so when the Eleanor was a popular body conversion I convulsed everytime I saw one.  Personally I am glad the fad is waning and that maybe the guys who built them will somehow step back and wonder why they ever screwed up a perfectly good classic Mustang.  

I agree with you TaraFied!  I also do not understand why there is so much Eleanor bashing but Shelby tributes are accepted.  
I own an Eleanor which we made very close to the movie car.  There are no other Eleanors at any of the many, many shows that I've attended here on the east coast in the past 3 years.
In the end, I don't really care what the trend of the day is....I will keep on driving and showing my Eleanor and having a great time with it.

 

That is a sweet looking E car. I'm glad the bashing hasn't stopped you from showing it. I see you have a MCA sticker too.
I would agree with Donald that people like Soaring bash the E car but general public love it. I get so much positive comments, thumbs up, horns honking, waves, etc. when I drive mine. I've had crowds gather in the parts store parking lot, gas stations, etc. I have die hard Chevy and Mopar guys even come up and say they don't like Fords but they like my car!
Again however, I don't know how we measure the trend. I think Donald made another good point that some of the newer E cars are not true replica's but the fact is the "look" is so awesome. The Shelby was a styling change in 67 much more than the 1st gen Stangs. Eleanor just modernized that look. I still don't understand why so many Mustang purists are okay with making a non GT into a GT or add SS wheels, fog lamps, etc. but then bash the E car. Fact is it looks good to a lot of people. That's been my experiance anyway. I'm still glad to see MM cover all aspects of the hobby and thanks Donald for answering my questions. Love the mag, keep up the good work!  

I think I am like a lot of mustang owners, I dont really bash the cars they are nice. What this hobby is about though really isnt taking someone elses view of an old car and cloning it. To me its about individualizing your car. If you have a dual turbo setup in there, or a great looking leather interior, then I will stop and look at it. But if its just another Eleanor that I have seen ten thousand times then I will probably pass it up. I do that for the Cobras also. There get to be so many of them that they lose their individuality and I dont bother looking. If you enjoy them I think its great I just have no interest in looking at something thats been done so many times before. I suppose you could say that about Mustangs in general but when I look under the hoods and inside of people's cars , its just amazing what they did to individualize it and thats what makes it cool to me. For the record you dont see that many coupe Eleanors and yours is pretty cool.  

Eleanor isn't for me but I respect someone else's taste and admire the workmanship.  Personally, I prefer original bodywork, upgraded brakes & suspension, and powerful enginees.  

both of you make good points and I understand completely. I'm not one for copying something exactly but I wouldn't mind a Bullit replica or even a Eleanor replica because they are cool in my opinion. I guess the Bullit car is still quite rare in terms of replicas and exclusivity might keep the car from becoming boring since it wasn't really a radical car in the first place. So I see your point very well. I guess all I was saying and I think Ele was too  is that we really don't see that many. In fact, I've seen the B.F.Goodrich Eleanor twice at a Goodguys show and the MCA show in Birmingham and other than that one I've only seen three others since the movie came out 8 years ago (well not counting the one in Gatlinburg at Car Stars). Again I know you wouldn't want to see them in every issue of MM but variations are cool as they do have some individuallity and we do see Shelby clones from time to time in the shows and mags. In fact like I said in my first post, the clone on the cover is probably one of the best I've seen and I have seen it at least twice in differnt shows. Anyway, thanks for the compliment on mine and for your opinions as well as respectfully sharing them. You do have a good point about Cobras and replicas in general. I think I have walked past a few Cobras myself now that I think about it.  

The more I think about it the more I see your guys point. The hobby is about the personal and unique touches that make each car interesting. I don't think making a replica is "screwing up" a Mustang. I guess I still get a little hung up on the fact that I see clones of GT's, Shelby's etc. even to the point it could be fraud but no one seems to mind that. Maybe I just haven't heard it anyway. I really do see that the replica thing could cause one to skip past it in a show but I did see hundreds, maybe thousands of orange Chargers in Nashville and they were cool. Many were not acurate replicas but had the "flavor" of the TV show/movie car. I guess what I'm saying is I see things a little differntly, thanks.
I still drool on any Eleanor car I see but I understand why others don't now.
In fact I built mine more as Eleanor Style than a replica because it was a coupe but I kinda went with the GT/CS theme too. I want to get stripes that reverse the CS to SC for "Super Coupe"... anyway thanks again for sharing your point of view.  

As I was reading this thread, mechanicalguy48 said almost exactly what I was thinking.

The reason I'm not a fan of the Eleanor cars is because it's a fully customized car that somebody else came up with.  When I first saw it, I thought it was a cool looking car, but if I were to build a custom car, then it would be custom to my tastes, not Chip Fooses.  

I hear you and that's cool if you don't want to build a car like someone else did. How do you feel about  someone building a tribute car to Carrol Shelby? or making a 69 Sportsroof look like a Mach 1 or a Boss? All I'm saying is if it looks cool and you like what's wrong with making yours like the one you like?  

I'm not going to tell anybody what they should or shouldn't do with their car.  Afterall, it's their car, and whatever you like is great.

I'm not a huge fan of clone cars either, although, mine is a clone.  When I bought it, the owner had already bought everything to complete the clone, so I just put it all together like that.  

I always liked the look of the Mach 1s, and I can't afford a real one, so this will work for now.  Someday I will own a real R code, and go a different direction with this car, but that will be after the kids are gone.

What I was getting at, is if I were to build a custom car(ie, body kit, wheels, suspension, restomod type car), I personally would make it my own design.

It is nice to see some coupes finally getting some attention in the restomod world, now that the price on fastbacks have been driven through the roof.  

hi e lovers out there i to think there awsome cars,  im in the works of building one.so if there is any info. that you can give me would be awsome.exp,engine ,suspen,due to the fact that unque is not around any more?where are we to go.thanks hope to hear from all of yous.67gt500  

I had a 65 GT350 clone.  I bought it because I always wanted a 65 GT350 but couldn't afford one.  If I could have afforded one I would have been afraid to drive it.  I sold it a year later for what I paid for it and bought a 95 Cobra R, which I drive everywhere and everyday.  

I get what everyone is saying on this topic....it's all a matter of taste.  And yes, my Eleanor is close to the movie car, however we also added our custom items such as shaved door handles, shaved door locks and a trunk with modern sound equipment and a dvd player and video screen.  
Fastback69 and Tarafied, you both have great cars!
I love the red paint and black stripes on the Eleanor kit.  Also, that 69 looks great!  We're currently resto-moding a 70 Mach 1 but Eleanor will also remain in the show family.  The "stock" people of the world won't like that we modified a Mach 1 either but it sure is a fun project.  I also respect people who keep their Mustangs original.  It's all what a person prefers but I'm just glad that people are still collecting and showing Mustangs.  We've been owning and showing for over 20 years and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.  Our son built a Honda "rice burner" from a crasged piece of twisted metal to a show winning car - not what I would have done, but I respect him for his passion and work he put into it.  And yes, I've been a member in MCA for decades....thanks for your notice of my membership sticker.