Michael Gullery learned from an early age, “If you can’t take care of something properly then you shouldn’t have it.” It was this lesson that taught the Chicago native that some things are worth waiting for, and from the looks of his ride, that patience paid definitely paid off.

“My family always lived in an apartment. No house meant no garage, so our family car was parked on the street,” he explained. “My brother and I would always go to the Chicago Auto Show each year to look over the new cars.”

The lack of available parking didn’t dissuade Michael from dreaming, but no garage meant no car, so it would be years before he would have wheels of his own.

“I was 15 and on a family trip with my sister, Maureen, and her husband when they let me drive their Pontiac Tempest on the highway. It was that trip when I first spotted a Corvette and I told her one day I would own one,” he said.

In time Mike’s fist car would come in a more modest form, a new ’76 Volkswagen Super Beetle. While bugs are fun, he most certainly upgraded his automotive status over the years.

“It came only with a sunroof and a radio,” but it was that car that carried Michael to a career including a degree in aeronautics, a pilot’s license, test flights, and a West Coast move to build rocket engines and, eventually, satellites.

I wanted something more interesting to take to car shows or cruise to lunch and a classic Mustang looks great! — Michael Gullery

Having lived by the mantra he learned as a kid, Michael and his wife of 42 years, Joann, have passed on the importance of that lesson to their children.

“My daughter and husband have five Ducati motorcycles, but they have not yet gone the performance-car route. My son also has a bike and a ’15 Mustang and my wife loves to show off her ’87 Fiero GT,” he said.

Michael’s pride and joy, on the other hand, came in Nightmist Blue wrapped around a 390ci ’67 Mustang Fastback.

“I wanted something more interesting to take to car shows or cruise to lunch and a classic Mustang looks great!” Michael enthused.

“I was looking for some kind of help with the ’67 and these guys on the forum were exactly what I needed — someone to share and show me what and how to do things,” Michael said of the knowledgebase on the Stangfix forum.

And the promise he made to his sister Maureen years ago to one day own a Corvette? Well, he kept that too.

“Although my sister passed before I was able to make that a reality, she believed I could do it. I’m a car guy so I had to do it,” Michael added.

Just like she always knew he would, and given that he was keeping a promise, we won’t even hold Michael’s other car against him. After all, that Fastback was worth waiting for, and we are pretty sure it gets a proper parking spot inside.