Lengthy earlier than the Ford Mustang was sufficiently old to earn true traditional standing, it was merely a well-liked selection for driving lovers starting from style-conscious youth to muscle automobile followers. In 1976, barely a decade after the unique pony automobile was launched, Philadelphia-area lovers had been turning to Fred Glazier’s Mustang Barn for components, service, and efficiency enhancements. As time handed they usually turned extra collectible, the enterprise grew to incorporate restorations as effectively.
In 2004, Mustang fanatic and beginner restorer Dan Nolan left behind his profession as an HVAC technician and purchased the enterprise from Fred. As a novice within the auto motive restoration enterprise, he properly selected to retain the unique proprietor for a transitional interval. That lasted eight years, permitting Dan time to construct relationships current shoppers whereas beginning to form the enterprise in his personal imaginative and prescient.
“I labored on automobiles after work and on weekends,” Dan recollects. “It was extra my ardour than my on a regular basis job. I now get to comply with the identical path as the unique proprietor the place I’m doing what I like.” Fred ultimately retired in 2012, leaving Dan on his personal.
Whereas Mustang Barn was a well known for components for a very long time, the web modified that a part of the enterprise mannequin considerably. Receiving fewer requests for components however growing demand for providers, Dan shifted with the instances. In 2019 he moved the enterprise to a bigger facility, the place it nonetheless resides at the moment. He says this allowed him to broaden his providing and double the quantity of labor that comes by the door.
The 5,500-sq-ft workshop, previously a collision restore store, sits simply outdoors of Harleysville in rural Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Inside are two tidy service bays, a paint sales space, and fabrication/restoration store. Right here, two full-time technicians and one part-timer work alongside Dan on a variety of mechanical and restoration providers. The house is clear, well-lit, and arranged, with perhaps half a dozen automobiles in course of without delay. An adjoining 5,000-sq-ft storage barn holds automobiles both ready to return in or to go house.
The enterprise has modified when it comes to what sort of labor the shoppers need carried out on their Mustangs. We nonetheless carry out full concours restorations and at all times will,” Dan provides. “The modifications in expertise have opened up the doorways to extra modifications that make older classics extra drivable on at the moment’s streets. We do numerous disc brake conversions, up to date suspensions, EFI conversions, motor upgrades, extra comfy interiors, customized paint, stronger sub-structures and so forth.”
The entire automobiles within the store on our go to had been first-generation Mustangs (together with a Mercury Cougar twin), the store’s major focus. As Dan defined, “We’re restricted to engine work we will do on the later Mustangs which have refined laptop methods. There’s nothing we received’t do to a traditional Mustang or another American traditional automobile or truck.”
The store has carried out restorations and mechanical work late ’20s American automobiles, ‘30s vehicles and automobiles, mid- to late-’50s vehicles and automobiles, ‘60s something, 70’s vehicles and automobiles. A stroll by the storage barn revealed a ‘50s-era pickup cab in primer, a Dodge Challenger, and the store’s personal Ford Falcon Sedan Supply, one in every of simply 151 produced.
There’s one thing to be mentioned for specializing, nonetheless. “My objective was to supply the identical or higher work than the unique proprietor.” No matter he’s doing, Dan figures it should be working. He has a gradual stream of labor booked out for so far as his calendar goes.