First Ford Mustang sold to public story

[Mike S]

 Not Camaro related but I figured car nuts would be interested in this Yahoo article on the 1st Ford Mustang sold to the public story
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/first-ford-mustang-owner-still-keys-49-years-123831938.html

Mike

[69Z28]

All I can say is WOW! I can only assume the first one built is still in Fords hands? Neat bit of auto history. I was 11 years old then.

[lakeholme]

I owned an early Mustang.  They should have held onto the 58 Chevy....

[69Z28-RS]

They have the first one 'sold/delivered' to the public, thru that dealer's anxiety to sell a car..  but it's likely NOT SN xxxxx0001...   As I recall, the dealers were supposed to keep them under wraps, and as soon as they were introduced, we began seeing many of them on the road almost immediately... at ~$1900 ..   everyone could afford one.. (and the six cyl might have been cheaper?)..

[z28z11]

All I can say is WOW! I can only assume the first one built is still in Fords hands? Neat bit of auto history. I was 11 years old then.

So was I. My parents, with me in tow, test drove one from the local Ford dealership right after the intro - my mother thought it was "too small" inside, plus it was a stick, which she couldn't handle. We ended up with a '65 Evening Orchid Impala SS, with my dad winding up with a '65 Corsa, which became the car I learned to drive in. The mom-and-stick-shift deal killed the ultimate trade that almost happened, a blue '67 Chevelle SS convertible, with 4 speed and console, buckets, that she wanted but couldn't handle the manual trans. Heartbroken, but I never regretted them sticking with Chevy -

Regards,
Steve

[BULLITT65]

I think it is debatable weather they are the first owners, I guess they are until someone new pops up with a bill of sale.

All I can say is WOW! I can only assume the first one built is still in Fords hands? Neat bit of auto history. I was 11 years old then.

The first mustang (vin 100001) was sold in Newfoundland on April 17 of 64 to an Airline pilot. It was sold by mistake, it was the promotional car Ford used to tour Canada to introduce canadians to Fords new product. It was scheduled to go into the Henry Ford Museum alongside the Mustang I prototype. Well Captain Stanley Tucker owned it two years and 10,000 miles before succumbing to Fords offers. Ford offered him the 1 millionth Mustang serial 1,000,001 for number 1 with any and all the options he wanted. he got every option except the Hipo k code motor. He owned it for 5 years until it was sold rusted and tired. Its whereabouts are unknown, But the first Mustang is in the Henry Ford Museum.

That was todays history lesson brought to you by MRG "Mustang research Group"...

[69Z28-RS]

Thanks Austin..   

[68 Ragtop]

But the project took on a new urgency when Tom Wise heard another Chicago resident claim to have bought the very first Mustang sold to the public, with a bill of sale from April 16, 1964.

"We dug up the old papers, and I found the one with April 15th on it," Wise told Yahoo. "We drove up there and showed it to him, and he kind of did a double take."

Well it must really suck to be the gut who paid $5.5 Million for the now SECOND Mustang sold to the public!

http://jalopnik.com/5403150/first-production-ford-mustang-on-ebay-buy-it-now-for-55-million

[68 Ragtop]

But the project took on a new urgency when Tom Wise heard another Chicago resident claim to have bought the very first Mustang sold to the public, with a bill of sale from April 16, 1964.

"We dug up the old papers, and I found the one with April 15th on it," Wise told Yahoo. "We drove up there and showed it to him, and he kind of did a double take."

Well it must really suck to be the guy who paid $5.5 Million for the now SECOND Mustang sold to the public!

http://jalopnik.com/5403150/first-production-ford-mustang-on-ebay-buy-it-now-for-55-million

[MO]

It's apparently the first one sold until someone else comes up with an earlier bill of sale. And if they are on the same day, someone will need a time stamp on theirs to claim that they have the first. And don't forget about time zones...

[69Z28-RS]

Like any 'new' car that comes out, being the *first one* to have one loses it's significance once many are on the road.   THE MOST significant new unit which never loses it's significance is the SNxxx0001.. ie. the 'lowest sn' built for sale to the public. sometimes it's snxxx001 and sometimes it's not.   The first C5 Corvette built which was placed into public hands was Snxxx007, which was given to the NCM, and auctioned off for about a year to see who won it!

[MO]

Like any 'new' car that comes out, being the *first one* to have one loses it's significance once many are on the road.   THE MOST significant new unit which never loses it's significance is the SNxxx0001.. ie. the 'lowest sn' built for sale to the public. sometimes it's snxxx001 and sometimes it's not.   The first C5 Corvette built which was placed into public hands was Snxxx007, which was given to the NCM, and auctioned off for about a year to see who won it!

Completely agree. To me, the lowest serial number would be preferred. Sure, it's cool to say (and prove) that you have a car sold on the first day of availability, but there were probably a lot of them sold that day. And who knows exactly what day that was.

[BULLITT65]

Well that Airplane pilot had a multi million dollar car probably. He could have retired a rich man if he was capable of holding onto it for a while out of the elements. Basically all he got out of the deal was a free car for a couple of years. If he only knew...