First Ford Mustang owner still has the keys 49 years after trading a Chevy

[jakeXT]

The launch of an iconic sports car in today's world often comes with a bidding war to be first in line; witness NASCAR team owner and car dealer Rick Hendrick paying $1 million last year for the rights to own the first 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray. But when the Ford Mustang was launched in 1964, Ford went to great lengths to keep the car under wraps as part of its launch. It was just a 22-year-old teacher's good luck that let her become the first Ford Mustang owner — a car that's still in her garage nearly five decades later.

The way Gail Wise tells it, she was just looking for a car to get her to her first job out of college, and was growing tired of her parents' '57 Ford Fairlane, when she went to Johnson Ford in Chicago. After a tour of the showroom turned up nothing of interest, the salesman said “I’ve got something in the back that's really new" — a light blue Mustang convertible, fully loaded with a 260 V-8 and a power top.

After some family wheeling-dealing that included the trade-in of a '58 Chevy for $400, Wise drove the Mustang home on April 15, 1964 — two days before Ford president Lee Iacocca would officially unveil the car to a crowd at the World's Fair in New York.

"I just wanted a new car, and was tickled pink to have it," Wise told Yahoo Autos. "I didn't know everyone was waiting for that car."

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/first-ford-mustang-owner-still-keys-49-years-123831938.html

[JohnnyRingo]

1. Her husband restored it in 2006?

I don't know how bad it was by then, but they maybe should have checked to see if that was a good idea.

The 1st Mustang will always have a definate value, but often that original paint adds a premium, even if it's worn. I can only hope the car got what collectors call a "sympathetic restoration", with an eye toward keeping as much of the 1964 factory work as possible. Otherwise, it's like Lincoln's original rail ax with a replacement blade and handle.

Too bad they drove it in the northern winters.