This shows the car's configuration near the end of its tenure with us.. It couldn't have been more than about two-and-three-quarters years, but I found time and occasion to:

• Buy some

  "...this little improve-ment..."

  GT take-off "Bullitt-style" 17x8-inch wheels and retire the original 16x7s to a corner of the back yard, where they repose to this day.
  
  
• Install a set of GT take-off anti-sway bars ("stabilizers", in the shop manual). Night and day, as the V6s have a skimpy front bar and none in the rear.
  
  
• Have a set of Steeda Sport springs installed. They lowered the front by about an inch, the rear by an inch and a couple tenths. Improved handling considerably, and the appearance a great deal. They also caused a slight deterioration of the semi-cushy ride characteristics.
  
  
• Have the Tokico D-Spec adjustable struts and shocks installed. With judicious adjustments, the good ride was (almost) recovered, and the handling tailored from mild understeer to essentially neutral.
  
  
• "Win" a set of Saleen Parnelli Jones Edition Minilite-like wheels on eBaY: 19x9 for the front, 19x10 for the rear (remember when we would kill for rims seven inches wide?). Put on a set of Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 275-35 tires that look, stick, and travel good. Their $1,600 price tag brought this little improvement up to about $2,600 total. Worth every penny. They look good on the High Performance White GT/CS, too—but I'm getting ahead of my story ...
  
  
• Buy and install a set of Ford Racing SVT "Fanblade" 18x8.5 wheels with mounted Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R 245-45 sticky tires. About $1,500 for this step, which was designed to make my little V6 effort at autocross more rewarding. Didn't really work, as we'll see later on.
  
  
• Have installed the Ford Racing Performance Parts V6 dual exhaust system. This is a great setup, with an "X-pipe" configuration and the M-5230-GTA axle-back mufflers, just like on the Shelby GT. They sounded good (<-- two links) and balanced the audio and visual aspects of the car. Turned out they were a little loud for the convertible, and I took them off to be replaced by a set of GT take-offs I'd bought off eBaY as "GTAs". That made it just right.

• Pending

  "...To Be Continued..."

  
  
  

  "...More anon..."

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