but always took exceptional care of it. Being in Northern California’s metal-friendly
climate, the Mustang took the years and miles well. Nelson dated his future wife, Sheri,
in it. Those had to be fun miles.
In the summer of 1992, with around 17,000 miles on the clock, Nelson was given a
company car (he ordered a red 2.3 LX with ten-hole wheels), and his ’89 GT convertible
became a secondary car. Having been involved with vintage cars before, he knew the
value of originality and documentation.
“I saved all of the paperwork and the original battery, oil filter, air filter, and wiper
blades since I knew I was going to keep it as a low-mileage original,” he says.
These days, the ’89 doesn’t see high-speed road trips, as it has the original Gatorback
tires on it still. But on its last time out, it hit the MCA show circuit.
“The last time it was driven any distance was to the MCA National in Concord,
California, in 2007,” Nelson says. It won a Gold award in the Unrestored Class and
scored a plus 9 as it was only docked 1 point.”
That would be its new focus — Mustang shows. It does very well, too. Nelson tells
us it’s also won a couple of Gold awards in the Unrestored class as well as three Best of
Shows at events around the San Francisco area.
The ’89s were the 25th anniversary Mustangs. As we approach the 25th anniversary
of the 25th anniversary, we can look back on cars like Nelson Cardadeiro’s very wellkept ’89 and remember what original was all about. At the time, it seemed like every Fox
Mustang on the road was modified. But we know of at least one black GT convertible
way out West that never strayed far from factory. It doesn’t need restoration. And we
doubt it will twenty-five years from now.
72 FOXMustangMagazine.com