Eric and Brannon Vidmar’s 1970 Twister Mach 1

In the 1970 the pony car wars were going strong with the introduction of the redesigned Camaro and Chevelle LS6 in 1970 as well as a variety of other muscle car options from Ford, Dodge and AMC.  Ford was intent on promoting its performance image.  In addition to Ford's standard offering, the Ford Special Promotion Division created a variety of limited edition vehicles including regional cars such as the High Country Specials in Colorado and the California Special to help spur sales.

Knowing this, in 1970 Larry LoPatin of American Raceways Incorporated (ARI) reached out to the Ford Special Promotion Division to develop pace cars and promotional vehicles for their raceways.  A contract was inked for 100 vehicles until Ford found out that ARI had financial difficulties.  Ford quickly backtracked and the ARI project was redirected to the Kansas City dealership network that had been requesting a "territory" special.  The resulting car was badged the Twister Special.

There were 96 Twister Specials produced in total.  All were Mach 1s.  Half were outfitted with 428 Super Cobra Jet motors and the remaining 48 cars had 351 Cleveland motors.  Of the 428 Super Cobra Jet cars, 24 had four speed manual transmissions.  The Twister owned by Eric and Brannon Vidmar is one of the 24 428 SCJ four speed cars.  The car is a beautiful nut and bolt restoration that won MCA Gold in the Concours Class, no easy feat.  They discovered the car at Mecum Indianapolis earlier this year and could not resist this pristine example of Mustang history.

The Vidmars are discerning collectors that are always on the lookout for rare, fully restored vehicles to add to their collection.  Although their collection is not marque specific, they do have an affinity for Fords.  What is important to them is the quality of each unique find.  As you can see in the pics, this car is no exception.  Their plans for the Twister include both driving the high revving 428 SCJ as well as showing the car locally and nationally.  We in Calaveras appreciate the Vidmars sharing this piece of muscle car history and look forward to seeing other rare finds in their expanding collection!