Hello! My name is Wendy. I'm the proud owner of a 1967 Mustang Fastback that I call Melanie. She's been part of my life for around 16 years, now. I love going to car shows and seeing all of the wonderful people that frequent them.

She was purchased off of EBay for $12,000 around 17 years ago. We worked hard on tearing her down once we realized she was not actually safe to drive (that's her in the cover photo). We replaced the floor pans, rear quarters, as well as other parts of the car that were beyond repair and restoration.

Our lives got busy, expenses in life piled up, and she had to take a back seat, sadly. For almost 13+ years, she's been sitting in a storage facility just waiting for her time to come back to life. I really thought we'd get back to her one day, he did also. Sad to say, that never happened and we parted ways amicably at the beginning of last year. I asked for Melanie in the divorce and I got her! He and I used to go to car shows together with his '66 coupe and I would love standing around when folks came up to chat about having the same car or a similar one before they joined the military, got married, etc. The wistful storytelling of how they wish they'd never sold it, how they'd give anything to have the car back again, or maybe they finally bought another, all made my heart warm to bring back fond memories for them.

She's become my bucket list girl. What I see my life with her being like after the restoration is complete: I'm going to take her to car shows, of course, but her most important job will be to bring smiles to veterans. It is my plan to take her to retirement homes, the VA hospitals in Cincinnati, OH and Indianapolis, IN, being an escort car for veteran motorcycle groups as they ride, going to benefit gatherings to raise money for veteran's groups, you name it. Her world will be in service to those who signed up and put their lives on hold to protect our wonderful country.

My dad was in the Navy way back when. I never joined the service myself, but I should have. That doesn't stop me from being a supporter of veterans and trying to do things I can for those who served. They deserve it! I would also like to use her to raise money for veterans groups - that would be amazing. I'm going to donate my time and the money for gas, maintenance, insurance and the like.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of restoration doesn't go far, BUT after looking around for over a year and a half in a serious way after spending a couple of years calling around for estimates and timelines, I finally had a shop in Ohio recommended to me who would take good care of her and bring her back to her former glory and beyond. I managed to gather the down payment for his services and my ex and I delivered the car to him in December of 2023. The agreement is that I will pay the shop owner monthly and then come up with the remaining amount when he has completed the car.

To bring things to current time, she's being worked on. I'm dating a man who is an Army veteran and he's agreed to go with me on my adventures once she is complete. His son is in the Marines and has also said he'd be interested in taking the car around to visit people with it once he has completed his enlistment. I love this idea more than I can say. Letting a couple of veterans drive the car that will be used to make other veterans smile? It's just about perfect!

Life is being life, and I'm struggling coming up with all of the money I need to complete her restoration in a timely manner that lets me know I don't have to panic and worry about having what I need when she is finished. It's also a pretty big strain on my finances to come up with those monthly payments, although I'm doing my best. The timing for finding the shop was great, except it wasn't. The thing is, I didn't want to keep having her on the back burner, waiting. It was my hope that it was meant to be finding the shop and taking her on as my own.

This is where I'm hoping you might be able to help. I would be very appreciative for anything you might be able to offer. Will you help me fulfill my dream of making this wonderful classic car a beautiful head turner again so that she can bring smiles to the world?