The original Pony Car
From 1967 Chevrolet, Pontiac, Dodge, … started making muscle cars eager to participate in the Mustang’s success. They were all dubbed Ponycars but we all know there can only be one original and that was the Mustang of course.
First Mustang off the assembly line
I found some interesting facts on this site during my last Mustang searches, the first one sounds a bit strange to me given the Mustang was released sometime mid 1964 so if you know what this is about let me know in the comments:
1962 – Ford unveils a new car at the start of the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, the Mustang
1963 – While waiting for the introduction of the Mustang, Ford introduced the Falcon Sprint package with a V8, tachometer and special trim
1963 – Ford tries and fails to buy Ferrari
1965 – Ralph Nader’s “Unsafe at Any Speed” published
1966 – The millionth Mustang is built just before its second birthday in March
1966 – Wilson Pickett releases the hit single “Mustang Sally”
1966 – Mustang sales were over 6% of the total U.S. car market
Can you imagine that? Six percent of the total U.S. car market not to just one brand, but to one single model. If this is true it offers some good news for me. Meaning it’s okay if it takes some more time before I ever get to buy one as there are plenty of them ;)
One more note on that 1st Mustang. Did you know that was bought by an airline captain called Stanley Tucker who had seen the car at his local dealership and that he wasn’t even aware this was the first one? Apparently Ford tried to buy it back soon after it found out the car was sold but that Stanley Tucker didn’t let go until (after 2 years of driving and 10.000 miles) he got a new full-option 1966 model from Ford. And also not just ‘a’ 1966 model, but the millionth Mustang manufactured. You can now go see the 1st Mustang ever made – unrestored – in the Henry Ford Museum. You gotta love stories like these.
Barret-Jackson 2008
Want to drive the 1966 Mustang coupe owned by James Earl Ray (who assisinated Martin Luther King) or the 1980 Mustang owned by Bette Davis? Or are you looking for another georgous yet less famous (or infamous) classic Mustang then the 2008 Barret-Jackson collector car auction in Las Vegas is where you need to be. The auction is held in the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino from October 15th to October 18th, as in ‘next week’ :)
The auction is about a lot more than just about Mustangs but there are some 30+ Mustangs on the list and Mustangblog.com looked them all up. The event will apparently be broadcasted live on the Speed channel in case you can’t be there (and in case you know what the Speed channel is… because I don’t).
Mustang church
Say what?! Jalopnik said it best with their title to go with this story: “Mustang church puts the fun back in to fundamentalism“. Brilliant.
The initial story was reported by Tom Strongman about the 74 year old Charles Ales who built the Mustang Church of America and Museum on his property.
“This is “the only church in the world dedicated to the Mustang car and Jesus Christ,” Ales said. “I’m going to preach goodness. Treat other people like you want to be treated, make this a better planet and make this place a better world than when you found it.”
The church will not be complete and ready for dedication until late this summer or early fall when parking and landscaping are in place. Ales has commissioned an 8-by-10 foot mural to be mounted behind the altar showing Jesus Christ behind the wheel of a 1966 Mustang.”
The Museum/Church has a collection of about 8 Mustangs, both old and new. Last but not least, when asked about blessing other muscle cars as well, Ales replied “I bless only Fords”. Talk about a true Ford/Mustang evangelist.
Only in America.
My desktop
I once wrote about a photographer who took some brilliant classic car pictures… and on occasion he – Djivy – takes some Mustang pictures as well and they almost always make it to my desktop as nice background. Also looking for the right Mustang background, other than what you can find on the more regular Mustang sources, check out these below:
Both photos were taken at the Antwerp Classic Salon, which I visit as well every year but it looks like there’s still room for improvement for me ;) Here are my sets of the Antwerp Classic Salon and the Ghent Classic Salon. Let me know what you think and definitely let me know if you can point me to other great Mustang photographers.
The Bertone Mustang
My buddy Cameron of the 67 Mustang blog did a great find recently of an early Mustang prototype designed by the famous Italian car designer Bertone. The reason for this design was apparently because the immediate success of the early Mustang in the US wasn’t followed in Europe. Therefore a more European design seemed appropriate and Bertone was contacted for it. Ford liked the design very much and showed it on the New York Motor Show but it never got into production. Neither does anyone know the whereabouts of the Bertone Mustang either. More details on the story here.
My take? It looks like a very nice and modern design especially considering when it was created, but apart from the Mustang logo it doesn’t look like a Mustang to me at all. Still nice design Bertone.
The day I buy my Mustang
… it’ll be in the US, and not in Europe. At least that’s for sure. Last weekend I went to Flanders Collection Car 2008, the classic car show in Flanders Expo (Ghent – that’s in Belgium), and there were a few Mustangs for sale. There were only few Mustangs there unfortunately, and they were expensive. This one for instance was a nice convertible, pretty much all original, and was on sale for €34.000 now that’s almost $51.000! Think about the Mustang you can get in the US for that, transportation costs included.
That said, they’re not all as expensive as this one. Looking at my favorite importer for classic cars in Belgium, it still seems most Mustangs average a cost of €15.000 – €17.500. I couldn’t help noticing how much of them are ‘sold’ already though, Mustang getting even more popular now?
Anyway, in 4 weeks now, it’s time for the Antwerp Classic Salon which I’ll got to as well. It’s better then the exhibition in Ghent and usually has quite a few Mustangs on display (as well as other great US and European classics of course). Let me know if you’ll be there as well, maybe we could do a photowalk?
More photos (but not a lot) on my Flickr account.
Flickr Photos
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