Nevada FCU CEO Makes Teenage Muscle Car Dream a Reality

LAS VEGAS-Nevada Federal Credit Union CEO Brad Beal yearned for a Mustang when he reached that 16-year-old rite of passage. Now, he’s fulfilled that want several times over. The main thing holding him back in high school was financing, but now that money is not as much of an issue, he owns four Mustangs and has acquired a T-bird and Model A for kicks as well. “I got into it as a second childhood thing and my wife got dragged into it,” Beal said laughing. Though his classic cars-which include a 1967 convertible Mustang, a 1968 fastback Mustang, a 1970 convertible Mustang, a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang, a 1957 Thunderbird, and a 1930 Model A-are in good condition now, that’s now how he got them. “I can pretty much do all of it except paint.and convertible tops,” Beal said. He even does minor bodywork but is not interested in acquiring buckets of rust either. The radios are the only things not original on his cars. He explained that the old Mustangs just had AM radios in them, which he cannot abide by. “Most days, the old cars are fun,” he said, expressing some frustration for when they are not “fun.” But that is when Beal takes a break. “It’s supposed to be fun. I work on them when it’s fun and I don’t work on them when it’s not fun,” he said. His favorite right now is the ’67 Mustang convertible with the factory four-speed transmission. It is also the one he completed most recently-about two months ago. After 18 months of working on it `when it was fun,’ Beal said, “I need a rest.” For now, he and his wife just enjoy cruising around town in the Fords on weekends and doing some local shows. Otherwise they are garage- kept. For every day vehicles, the self-proclaimed Ford man said he drives an Explorer and his wife has a 1998 Mustang. Beal added that he likes the new body style Mustangs but, similar to back in high school, the sticker shock keeps him away at this point. [email protected]