We love our neighbors up North, however look, if you happen to ask us, the primary Ford Mustang ever offered belongs right here on US soil. It is a piece of American historical past, an icon of mid-century splendor from a interval when the Interstates have been being constructed and the highway stretched on without end. So we’re proud of how the story of the primary Ford Mustang performed out, being offered to a Canadian and ultimately discovering its manner again dwelling, with the unique proprietor swapping it to Ford for the millionth Mustang ever produced.
The humorous factor is, the world’s first Ford Mustang purchaser really bent the principles a bit to get his arms on one a bit early, and realizing that he sweet-talked the seller to make an exception “simply this as soon as,” it is no shock to be taught that he sweet-talked Ford into buying and selling him one which was simply as uncommon. This is what you have to know in regards to the first, and millionth Ford Mustang, and the slick-talking Canadian who drove them each.
From The US To Canada And Again To The US
The very first Ford Mustang, serial primary, was one among 180 pre-production automobiles in circulation in mid-April,1964, following a couple of weeks of promoting, and predating the official launch on April seventeenth on the 1964 World’s Truthful. Because the story goes, Captain Stanley Tucker, a Canadian pilot flying with Japanese Provincial Airways, was driving by George Parsons Ford in his hometown of St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada, on April thirteenth, when he noticed a crowd of individuals forming round what we now name a “1964.5” Ford Mustang in Wimbledon White.
Captain Tucker solely wanted to take one take a look at the horse automobile to know he needed to see it in his personal driveway, and, the very subsequent day, he walked all the way down to the dealership, checkbook in hand, able to make the acquisition.
In accordance with some tellings of the story, the salesperson was keen to shut the deal. The following smartest thing to purchasing the primary Mustang ever can be promoting the primary Mustang ever, proper? Others say that the salesperson was hesitant to bend the principles, however the smooth-talking Canadian’s folksy appeal finally disarmed him, and he made an exception “simply this as soon as.” Nonetheless, it was that the talks went down, Captain Tucker drove off within the very first manufacturing Mustang ever constructed.
Ford Needed Takesy Backsies
In 1964, driving a Ford Mustang round Canada would have been like driving one of many first Tesla Roadsters again in 2008, and Captain Tucker loved a level of native notoriety as the primary child on his block with the brand-new pony automobile.
“For a very long time, I used to be the one Mustang proprietor in Newfoundland. It was fairly an expertise. Many instances one other motorist would drive me to the aspect of the highway to ask me in regards to the automobile — what it was, who made it, how I prefer it, and the way a lot it price.”
It did not take lengthy for Ford to start out hounding Captain Tucker about promoting the automobile again to them, however he turned down one supply after one other till late 1965, once they mainly informed him to call his worth within the type of a 1966 Ford Mustang optioned nevertheless he favored.
Captain Tucker went with a Silver Frost convertible with an onboard Philco TV set and a 225 horsepower 289-4V engine (Tucker favored the prolonged guarantee on this one), and would not you recognize it, it occurred to be the millionth Mustang to ever roll off the meeting line. Stanley Tucker clearly missed his calling, as a result of he ought to have been shopping for lottery tickets for a dwelling and flying planes as a interest.
The primary Mustang now resides within the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan with 10,000 miles on the odometer, and the millionth Mustang, nicely, Captain Tucker wasn’t precisely the sentimental type. He drove this factor in crappy climate, up and down winding Canadian mountains, he even used to tug trailers with it, and praised the automobile’s workhorse functionality, and he would inform reporters that he did not see what all of the fuss was about. A million is only a quantity, and it’d as nicely have been the fiftieth, five hundredth, or 789,281st Mustang.
By the point Captain Tucker was able to half together with his second Mustang, someday within the Seventies, he had misplaced all the unique paperwork, leaving no proof that this was the millionth manufacturing mannequin. So far as we will decide, this automobile might be rotting away in some Canadian scrapyard proper now.
A Look At The First, And Millionth, Ford Mustangs
The very first Ford Mustangs have been technically a part of the 1965 mannequin yr, however ceaselessly known as 1964.5 fashions. These have been the fashions produced between March 9 and August 17, 1964. ‘64.5s featured a “stiffening skirt” across the fringe of the hood, most of them lacked the Ford hood moldings seen on the ’65s, the safety cables on the gasoline caps are lacking, and there are some variations within the inside, together with entrance passenger seats bolted straight to the ground, and the door locks matched the inside shade, the place the 1965 locks have been chrome.
1964.5 First Ford Mustang | 1966 Millionth Ford Mustang | |
Engine | 4.3-Liter NA 8-Cylinder | 4.7-Liter NA 8-Liter |
Energy | 164 hp | 225 hp |
Transmission | 3-Velocity Automated | |
Drivetrain | Rear-Wheel Drive | |
As for the tv set featured in Captain Tucker’s millionth Mustang, some sources report that the Philco set was constructed immediately into the dashboard. We won’t discover any proof that this was ever an possibility in a production-model Mustang. However we do know that Ford offered an official in-car Philco TV set round this time, that includes a mounting hook in order that you possibly can dangle it off the again of the driving force’s seat and watch Inexperienced Acres and The Ed Sullivan Present to make lengthy highway journeys go by a little bit extra rapidly.
How To Discuss Your Seller Into Shopping for You A New Automobile
So far as candy offers go, Captain Tucker bought one of many sweetest in automotive historical past. He put 10,000 miles on the primary Mustang ever constructed, after which Ford swapped him for a brand-new mannequin with a TV set and every thing, and he drove it till the wheels fell off.
Today, the one manner you are prone to get any seller or automaker to purchase your automobile off of you and exchange it with a brand-new mannequin is to place 1,000,000 miles on the odometer, and that is not even a assure. Toyota has been identified to purchase million-mile Tundras, seeing as reliability is the model’s bread and butter, however with some automakers you may be fortunate to even get an e-mail congratulating you for the achievement.
The one manner you possibly can actually assure promoting a automobile again to the automaker for full worth lately is with a Lemon Legislation buyback, and that does not a lot make for a enjoyable story, like Captain Tucker’s first and millionth Mustangs, that is simply the civil courts searching for the American shopper. Discuss Boring with a capital B.
Sources: Ford, The Henry Ford Museum.
