Name: Donn Swedenburg
E-mail:  dswedenburg@rvwinc.com
Location: Columbus, Nebraska
Member since:  2001

Bio: 

I've always been a "car nut".  My dad ran his own mechanic repair shop in Clarks, NE., so when I was a kid, I had the luxury of  growing up around cars and engines while helping in the shop.  Dad built and tuned stock car engines for a local racer, so we would go to the oval track in Columbus every Sunday night (this is back when the car track was on the east side of town south of the horse track and the engines were either flathead V8s or OHV 6's).  We'd watch the races while he worked on the car in the pits. 

Over the years, I've had a variety of Fords starting with a 64 Galaxie, 390, 330HP - 4 speed.  There was a 57 Fairlane convertible - 312 Y block - 4 speed and along the way there was also a nice 68 Mustang GT coupe, modded 302 - 4 speed.  I raced a 56 Fairlane, Y block in the hobby stock classes for a couple years.  

After I'd been married to my lovely wife Barbara for a couple years, "kids" kinda started happening and I curtailed (but never forgot) some of my hobbies.  But by the time I moved to Columbus in 2001, I had acquired a rough 69 Mach 1, 428 CJ that I bought on a whim a few years earlier.  I was in the process of slowly restoring it when I saw an article in the Telegram about a local Mustang Club.  I called the number and joined up - my first meeting was at Ron Hostetter's house.  It was great to hang-out with a good bunch of motorheads - still is.  The club just keeps getting better.  I was club secretary for almost 3 years and have been club treasurer for 2 years. 

When I saw the press releases on the new Shelby a year ago, I decided to make an all-out push to get one.  A year later, here it is - the car that screams "EMPTY NEST". 

Modifications: 

Gotta have Flowmasters - it's needs some cackle.  Other than that, it's very excellent in almost every way - power, appearance, comfort, brakes & ride.