Tony Seader’s Super Custom ’66 Mustang Fastback

tonyseadersleadartThere’s nothing better than rolling up to a car show with a custom ride that you’ve poured your heart and soul into, especially when it’s an instant crowd-pleaser. For Tony Seader of La Salle, Colorado, that custom car is the gorgeous ’66 Mustang Fastback you see here.

feature_33Having seen Seader’s car at a number of shows and falling in love with it more and more every time we saw it, we just knew we needed to spend some time with the machine and the man behind it all to truly get the gist of the car’s unique appeal. Fortunately for us, Seader was more than happy to oblige.

Mustang Roundup

Having been a Ford guy for as long as he can remember, Seader told us that transitioning into the custom Mustang scene was merely a matter of time. Though the famed pony car wasn’t always his favorite Ford, Seader’s passion for the vintage ‘Stang now supersedes that of any other musclecar.feature_5Nearly 20 years ago, Seader and his wife Tammy purchased the couple’s first classic Mustang- a ’66 coupe- and were instantly hooked. Eventually, that car was customized and the couple decided to add a ’66 Fastback to their collection.

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In addition to the couple’s two Mustangs, Seader has owned a number of Fords over the years, including a ’97 Mustang GT, ’04 Mustang GT, ’54 Ford pickup and a ’65 Ford Econoline pickup.

Having found the one you see here on a local car lot in 2005, the Seaders sold their ’65 6-cylinder Mustang, one they had picked up after the ’66 coupe, and purchased the following year fastback.

As with many well-loved musclecars of the good ol’ days, the car was in fair but well-used condition, with the factory suspension system in rough shape, factory red paint faded and oxidized, and what looked to be the reminiscence of a battery explosion all over the engine bay. Though the car needed some work, it had plenty of potential and the Seaders took her home.

Not wanting their car to fall into the typical “red ’66 Mustang” crowd, the Seaders quickly decided to customize the fastback from top to bottom and enlisted the help of Dan Ambrosio of Westminster, Colorado’s Ambrosio Concepts. The result is this glorious car you see before you.

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Plenty of Blood, Sweat and Tears

With the Mustang set to be treated to the full customization process, the car was stripped and media blasted before anything else could take place. Then it was sent off to Ambrosio Concepts where months of design work went into the car, starting with body work like shaving the rear quarter vents, cowl vents and drip rails. Following that theme, the radio antenna, side mirrors and all the Mustang’s emblems were also shaved.

feature_28Other body modifications include the addition of a fiberglass front racing apron with chin spoiler, California Special-style deck lid with molded spoiler and corner extensions, seal and trim-free front and rear glass, Mustang Deluxe billet grille with matching billet in the racing apron, and a fully-functional Shaker hood made from a Mustang GT350 hood scoop.

The only thing missing are door handle deletes, which Seader told us would be the one thing he’d change if he had to do the build all over again.

Once the body modifications were done, the Seaders sat down with Ambrosio to design a custom paint scheme, the only stipulations being that it needed to be two-toned and include the color orange. After a few ideas were thrown around, the custom PPG Burnt Orange and Pearl White paint scheme was constructed, with a purple pinstripe separation added upon Tammy’s request.

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feature_40Matching the exterior of the car is the custom interior, which features Oyster leather Procar Elite Series 1100 bucket seats up front and a matching bench seat in the rear, orange carpeting, custom door panels and shifter boot, leather-covered plastic interior panels, custom Oyster headliner, and a body-colored dash, which has been rounded and smoothed with dash pad delete.

feature_34Stock white-face gauges surrounded by a polished billet instrument bezel keeps all the car’s vitals in check while a billet glove box and a billet Colorado Custom steering wheel add a bit of shine to the custom digs, which were all pulled together by local upholster Dirk Trevarton.

Adding even more of a unique touch to the interior are custom two-toned embroidered horse heads on the front seat headrests and center of the rear seat, as well as a custom shift knob designed by Tammy and cast by Dave Winters of Steamboat Springs.

feature_45As to be expected for a car this custom, the engine and drivetrain are also rather unique. Powering the Mustang is a Ford-sourced 289ci engine, which has been fitted with an iron Edelbrock Air-Gap manifold, Edelbrock 650cfm 4-barrel carburetor, JBA shorty headers, stainless steel exhaust with 2 ½-inch MagnaFlow mufflers, Ford Racing valve covers, a billet single groove pulley set, chrome 5-blade cooling fan, chrome alternator and brackets, chrome oil pan, and a billet aluminum ignition wire loom.

With the car’s battery moved to the trunk and the wiring harness hidden, the engine bay remains very clean cut while being topped off with a chrome Monte Carlo bar.

feature_55Backing the Ford 289 is a Ford 4-speed top loader transmission attached to the car’s stock 8-inch rearend with 2.80 rearend gears. Increased handling capabilities are supported by Grab-A-Track 620 front coil springs, five mid-eye leaf springs, a 1-inch front sway bar and a ¾-inch rear sway bar kit, in addition to Grab-A-Track sourced shocks on all four corners.

Planting the Mustang to the pavement are polished 17×8-inch American Racing Torq Thrust II wheels wrapped in 235/45/ZR17 Yokohama rubber.

feature_19All Wrapped Up

Completed in just eight months, the Mustang has been the source of many enjoyable outings for the Seaders, including to local car shows, to which Seader always drives the car rather than trailers it.

feature_31Having attended dozens of car shows, the custom ‘Stang has gotten tons of recognition in the form of three Best of Show awards, two Best Engine awards, three Best Overall Mustang awards, a Top 10 Street Machine Award from the Road Knights car show, and a number of recognitions from the annual Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup in Steamboat, including a Yokohama Tires Vendor Award, three People’s Choice awards and countless awards of excellence.

While the Seaders are certainly proud of the awards their fastback has received over the years, Tony told us that “Sometimes the best awards are the thumbs-up you get just driving down the street or the times you are parked and people ask to take a picture of your car.”

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This is about the brightest white pearl paint that we have ever seen on a custom car, set off by the PPG burnt orange above it.

Needless to say, the Seaders love their Mustangs and enjoy them on a regular basis. They’ve even passed down their love for the pony car to their daughter Katey, who owns a ’04 40th Anniversary Mustang that the whole family is now working on customizing together.

Thanks goes out to Tammy and Tony Seader for sharing their amazing custom Mustang with us. For more photos from our photo shoot with the Seader’s ‘Stang, check out the gallery below for more pictures of this beautiful ride.

About the author

Lindsey Fisher

Lindsey is a freelance writer and lover of anything with a rumble. Hot rods, muscle cars, motorcycles - she's owned and driven it all. When she's not busy writing about them, she's out in her garage wrenching away. Who doesn't love a tech-savy gal that knows her way around a garage?
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