Life threw tough curve balls at Vancouver Mustang lover, but restoration of classic sportscar brought him back to life
Like a lot of car crazy kids, Ed Bailey got his first car shortly after turning 16. Ed’s dream car was a 1965 Mustang fastback with the high horsepower 271 horsepower V8 engine and four-speed transmission. He was to do a lot better than that. What he got was a 1968 Shelby GT500KR fastback with the giant 428 cubic inch engine coupled to a four-speed transmission.
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The year was 1972 and Ed bought the car for $800. Today, that car would be worth in excess of $200,000, as one of only 1,053 Shelby GT500KR fastback models built. It is generally regarded as the ultimate Mustang-based muscle car. So, how did young Ed pull this off? The then 16-year-old was living with his grandmother in North Vancouver and spotted the Highland Green Shelby fastback out of the corner of his eye on a gas station lot while walking home. Intrigued, he asked the service station operator about the car. The rare car had been purchased from the performance group at New Westminster’s Fogg Motors run by race car driver John Hall and master tuner Dave Dunbar. The owner of the car had blown the engine and couldn’t afford his payments. The service station had secured a mechanic’s lien on the car.
The bank accepted Ed’s offer of $800 and, after he paid the mechanic’s lien with money earned at his after-school job in a machine shop, he towed the car to his grandmother’s home and went to work in the garage. He had the engine rebuilt and, by the time Ed was 18 years old, he was driving the car. After a stint in the North Vancouver shipyards, Ed got a job as a high-pressure pipeline welder, got married and began a family.
In 1984, after owning the car for 21 years, Ed had a second child and money was needed to buy a house. He sold the car to Hollywood actor Michael Ironsides for $38,000. The actor flew to Vancouver to see the car and drove it home to Los Angeles. That 1968 Shelby GT500KR fastback now resides in Australia.
Ed couldn’t get his Shelby muscle car out of his mind as the years went by. He went through a divorce, helped to raise his three children and eventually re-married. Eleven years ago, he paid $25,000 for a Factory Five Cobra kit car. As an experienced welder/fabricator, he could assemble himself.
The legendary Cobra cars built by Carroll Shelby in the mid-Sixties were the fastest street driven cars available. Melding brute force Ford power with the sleek AC sports car body resulted in one of the world’s most sought-after sports cars. Ed would build his own copy with the Factory Five Cobra kit. He joined Factory Five Shelby forums, shared information with fellow owners all over the world and set to work welding the frame together. He had a Rousch Dart Eagle 402 cubic inch engine built to produce 500 horsepower. It was installed with a five-speed transmission.
Then his life would go into a steep dive. Ed fell and broke his back followed by the breakup of his second marriage. While Ed was working through his health and divorce issues, his daughter died in a North Vancouver house fire. Ed went into a complete emotional tailspin and the Cobra project gathered dust.
“I found myself in a divorce for the second time which was quite depressing. The real kicker was when Lindsay died. I went into a real depression,” Ed says.
A visit to his dentist in West Vancouver would change everything. Dr. Richard Roston was having a 1966 Mustang built in a Vancouver-area shop with modern suspension and high-performance running gear. He suggested Ed contact the shop to see if they could re-ignite his Cobra build. The stalled project was taken to the shop and soon Ed was working alongside the craftsmen there as the body work was done, the lightweight fiberglass body painted Guardsman Blue with Willingdon White stripes and the mechanics and wiring were completed.
“While putting the car back together, I got put back together,” Ed says of the experience. “My therapist says, being able to work on the car and interacting with other people was the best thing that could happen. It brought me back to life.”
The completion of the Cobra is bringing Ed Bailey into 2025 with renewed optimism. He says his daughter who passed away will be his co-pilot when he drives his Cobra.
“I’m thrilled with way the car turned out. I have a sense of pride. I am looking forward to driving the Cobra, going to some car shows and meeting some new people,” he says. “I’m excited about the future and have passion for life again. The car restored me.”
Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and a partner in a Vancouver-based public relations company. [email protected]
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