Thank you for your service.

“I know my own nation best. That’s why I despise it the most. And know and love my own people, too, the swine. I’m a patriot. A dangerous man.”
-Edward Abbey

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Barbro Peterson at the German Grand Prix, 1970.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. To anyone who has served or continues to serve, and to all who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice, thank you.

Coming of age in Virginia in the 1980’s, I had a contrarian streak. I watched European soccer, not American football. I had posters on my walls of Lancias and Porsche 908’s and Barbro Peterson, not Corvettes and Malibus and Farrah Fawcett. While all my friends built muscle cars and street raced on makeshift quarter miles, I built MG’s and Alfa Romeos and street raced on the twistiest roads I could find.

I never had much interest in American cars.

But I always had a soft spot for Ford. Ford had a serious European arm building seriously interesting cars, and I saw, very clearly, the difference between the “Granada” which we got in the states and the (entirely different) Granada they got on the continent. I saw the difference between the Capri they got and the Capri we got in the states, even if to Ford’s enduring credit they did actually try to sell us the correct Capri at first. I watched (and perhaps more importantly, listened to) the Mk. 1 and Mk 2 Escorts shred European road and rally events, long before we got anything in the USA that was even called a Ford Escort.

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429 cubic inches of American patriotism.

I saw, and understood, how Ford of Europe took it to the yurrupeans on tracks like Spa and Silverstone and Monza. Dicing it up with some of the most storied models from some of Europe’s most storied marques. And I loved it.

As I’ve aged, my affection for classic Fords has grown stronger and stronger and now, living in Spain, I truly covet nasty fastback Mustang builds and Galaxy 500 R-codes.

This 429-powered custom fastback Mustang thing is wicked cool anywhere, but here in Spain? Come on. Driving this here in Spain would be like driving a Bengal Tiger around. It would legitimately scare the shit out of some people, titillate others, and make me smile from ear to ear. And it’s available now on Bring a Trailer.

I’m a patriot. A dangerous man. Go USA.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.