Where were you in the summer of 1969?
Only half of us alive today watched humanity’s first steps on the moon on July 20. The following day, July 21, autoworkers at Ford’s Dearborn Assembly Plant were putting together eleven Mach 1 Super Cobra Mustangs.
One those Mustangs has travelled 53 summers to become yours if the right raffle ticket is drawn Dec. 15.
“That’s what makes cars so special,” said Angela Babala, who along with husband, Mark, has painstakingly restored the Mustang over the past 17 years. “I think it’s nostalgia. Cars are about freedom to roam. Cars are about harnessed power. Our cars define our lives. When we learned to drive, the new friends we made, when we got married.”
As it turns out, Mark bought the 1969 Mustang that is being raffled off from a seller in Alabama a year before the Babala’s got married.
“The frame was rotted,” said Angela. “There was no interior. Some of it was in literally in boxes. The car was converted from its original automatic transmission to manual. There were two steering wheels sitting on the seat.”
Angela and Mark rebuilt cars out of Goetzville until ten years ago, when a TV star talked them into moving their restoration business out to California. The couple moved to Los Angeles with the wedding Mustang in tow.
Business on the West Coast was exceptional. Word traveled and soon the Babalas were restoring cars for actors and other celebrities. Angela and Mark are now in the fifth season of a reality-based show about their craft and clients called, Angel’s Garage.
As a way of giving back over the years, the Babalas have restored seven classic cars and raffled them off with proceeds earmarked for programs that benefit children. They have raised just shy of a million dollars for those causes.
This will be the last year that Angela and Mark will be out in Los Angeles. Next year they settle into semi-retirement and return to Goetzville. They have one more season of Angel’s Garage in a contract with the Peacock Network.
This year will also be the last classic car raffle they hold before returning home. It is where the 1969 Super Cobra Mustang, the car that’s been with them for as long as they’ve been together, comes into the picture.
You can buy a ticket to win a piece of the summer of ’69.
“Everything on this car is brand new, created by hand from original specs,” said Angela. “It took 17 years to build it from parts that came from all over the US. It is our labor of love. Mark fitted the 428 cubic-inch engine with racing pistons. It has a new suspension. This Mustang is ready to rumble and raffle.”
This year’s benefit is Toys for Tots, celebrating its 75th year with the United States Marine Corps, which collects the toys. The Babalas have set this year’s raffle goal to at least $100,000, enough to push them over a $1 million cash total they have raised over the years.
Tickets cost $5 each but can be purchased with price breaks in batches of 5 to 125 tickets at a time.
One more thing about the Mustang – the Babalas repainted it in a neon green that happens to glow in the dark.
“The color flavor may not be to your taste,” said Angela. “Whoever wins it can easily repaint it to the original ‘Grabber Green’ of the original specs. But we wanted to do something special for this car.”
The Babalas have chosen to unveil the Mustang at Soo Motors to thank the Sault Ste. Marie-based Ford dealer for all the help they provided in launching the restoration business, before the California years.
“It seemed so natural since we are coming home next year,” said Angela. “The service department straightened countless car frames and was the main reason why our Ford truck rolled over more than 300,000 miles.”
The Mustang will be on display in the main showroom of Soo Motors - located on 3 Mile Road across from Walmart – during business hours until Monday, Nov. 7. Then the car is off to Ford dealers in Traverse City and finally Southgate, where a winning raffle ticket will be drawn Dec. 15.
In between, the historic Mustang is slated to make a stop at Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant where autoworkers who put together today’s Mustangs can enjoy ogling something that their fathers, and even grandfathers, assembled more than 50 years ago.
“A corporate sponsor, Chubby Charlies, a pizza chain headquartered in Roseville, has covered shipping the car from LA to the Soo, Traverse City, Flat Rock, and then to Southgate,” said Angela. “They also paid for the Mustang’s new exhaust system and drive train. We wouldn’t have this car to raffle if it were not for them!”
Angela said that the winner need not travel downstate when the winning ticket is drawn.
“The drawing will be streamed,” she said. “Don’t forget to put a phone number on each ticket. Detroit Lions running-back Jamaal Alexander will personally draw the ticket and then call the winner.”
Follow the car’s upcoming tour and raffle drawing on Facebook at “Angel’s Garage.”
Run a search on myevent.com for “Toys for Tots” to buy tickets
