Dustin Cassel's 1967 Mustang Coupe
If You Build It, They Will Come...
/ By Barbara Bird, Jim Smart
/ photographer: Jim Smart
/
Article provided by: Mustang & Fords Magazine
The 1989 Universal Studios movie Field of Dreams was rooted in imagination--and daring to dream and achieve what others might perceive as impossible. It was a feel-good story about remembering--recalling the childlike innocence of imagination. Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (actor Kevin Costner) heard the words on the wind: "If you build it, he will come...." It became a voice he could not ignore. Ultimately, Kinsella began a journey that would lead him to the field of dreams. At great cost, he turned his Iowa cornfield into a baseball diamond--a special place for dreams to come alive.
Alive they became, with legendary baseball players "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (Ray Liotta) and "Doc" Graham (Burt Lancaster) spitting tobacco, swinging the bat--living an unfulfilled dream in a little slice of heaven called Iowa. Behold a dream fulfilled--Dustin Cassel's Guardsman Red '67 Mustang coupe. Dustin began his journey in another little slice of heaven called Tucson, Arizona, seven years ago. Dustin had in his imagination a vision of what a Mustang should be. He stepped up to the plate, sized up the pitch, and with the crack of the bat, went to work.
Cleats thrusting furiously across the firmament, Dustin hit a home run his first time off the bench. Touching first base, Dustin opted for professional bodywork and paint by S&H Enterprises--a line drive that ensured his blazing trek to home plate. Crossing second base, Dustin had Larry's Engine & Marine erect a 289ci mill topped with 351W heads sporting 2.02-inch Chevy valves, roller rockers, a Pete Jackson geardrive, reconditioned rods with 3/8-inch ARP bolts, and more. Ford Motorsport SVO cast-aluminum valve covers keep the oil inside. Holley carburetion meters the fuel and air beneath a Cobra-style air cleaner. A Ford Top Loader four-speed delivers the power to a 4.11:1 Detroit Locker.
Crossing third base with a vengeance, Dustin headed for home with a full complement of Auto Meter gauges, a Grant steering wheel, and special appointments. Dustin slid into home behind the wheel, tugging at the five-point restraint system for security. He twisted the key, and the crowd went wild. It was a grand slam, out of the ballpark, a moment for the history books. Listen to the roar of the fans and the throaty burble of the Flowmaster- muffled 289. Dustin walks the accelerator and slips the Hurst into First. Player and steed roar off with the fury of a high-winding Louisville Slugger. Dustin proves to us, much as baseball fan Ray Kinsella proved to a rural Iowa farming community, that dreams do come true when we believe and are willing to take risks to achieve them. What about your dreams? If you build it....