SEPTEMBER 2019 33
(fatmanfab.com) designs,
tests, manufactures,
installs, and sells complete
chassis, front and rear
suspensions, brake
packages, and a wide
variety of related parts
for many different cars
and trucks from the 1930s
through the 1970s.
VanDervort traded a
pile of horse ring fence
posts plus $500 cash for the
sad-looking Mustang and
immediately got to work
restoring it for his daughter,
Emily, who was then in high
school. He had Raymond
Dorn in Mechanicsville,
Virginia, pull out the
collision damage, and
then, with help from Gary
Rawlings and his staff at
Reflections Paint & Body
Shop in Charlotte, North
Carolina, he did all of the
necessary bodywork. Gary
Rawlings did the final paint
prep and sprayed the laser-
straight body turquoise and
white. “This was the ‘Barbie
Dream Car’ look we initially
did for my daughter, Emily.
She drove the car like that
in high school and then
college.”
Concurrent with the
body- and paintwork,
VanDervort rebuilt the
car’s original engine and
transmission. NAPA Auto
Parts in Charlotte boredQVanDervort kept the overall OEM look and feel of the
interior while making numerous changes to personalize
it. He totally reworked the dashboard using a Carriage
Works panel to create a flat, symmetrical look. An array
of six Classic Instruments gauges helps keep track of all
vital signs, and a Sony CD stereo was installed. Richard
Brown helped out with rewiring the car to accommodate
the upgraded instrumentation and electronics. The
Mustang’s stock steering wheel gave way to a Colorado
Custom wheel, and the original seats and door panels were re-covered with black and
silver upholstery by Leon Brown of Brown’s Custom Auto Upholstery in Concord, North
Carolina. Leon Brown also installed a new convertible top.