What's the best thing you've bought for $500? For Art Cairo, of Michigan, that's an easy answer. Back in 1975, he bought this black-on-black Mustang from a newspaper ad that listed it as "special made for Ford family." The ad was asking $525, but he negotiated down to an even five bills. At the time, neither he nor the seller knew exactly how special this Mustang would turn out to be. Read on as we take a closer look at Henry Ford II's personal Mustang prototype.
Above: Henry Ford II with an early Mustang (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
Initially, based on the conversation with the previous owner and an inscription on the owner's manual, Cairo believed this car had belonged to Edsel Ford II, the son of then-President of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford II. That would have certainly made it an important piece of Ford history. However, many years later he learned that its true story was even more interesting.
Above: The original for-sale ad that led Art Cairo to this Mustang (Photo courtesy of Hagerty)
This Mustang was a completely unique custom-built prototype, and it served as Henry Ford II's personal car during the development of the platform. Shortly after the public release of the Mustang, Henry gifted the car to his chauffeur, who used it regularly for the next five years before selling it to a friend. That friend was the one who sold it to Art Cairo.
Cairo told Hagerty that the car was a "rust bucket" when he got it, so he restored it using NOS body panels and gave it a fresh coat of black paint. Thankfully, many of the unique aspects of this prototype are still present.
The exterior of this Mustang prototype looks ordinary enough, but the fenders have no emblems, despite the fact that it has a K-code 289ci V8 under the hood. The styled steel wheels were not original to this car, but were installed at Henry's request. The car also came with 4-piston disc brakes, a padded leather roof (not to be confused with the production vinyl roof), ultra-deep-pile carpet, and the panel seams were hand-smoothed like a show car instead of simply spot-welded.
Inside the car, Mustang enthusiasts will notice something very unusual: leather seats. These, along with the teak wood trim on the steering wheel, gauge cluster, and center console, weren't offered on the production Mustang. The sun visors, headliner, and dash pad are all leather-wrapped as well.
Above: The radio features unique die-cast buttons and knobs finished with real teak wood.
In an ironic twist, Cairo says judges at a car show deducted points from his car's score after noticing these non-factory items. Little did they know, they were as original as it gets.
The 289ci V8 features experimental heads, a special aluminum water pump, and other parts that were clearly still in development, like a brown Bakelite starter solenoid. The hood was also insulated underneath. Many components that became plastic or aluminum on the production car were made from die-cast chrome-plated steel on this prototype.
Some have referred to this car as a 1963 Mustang, since markings on parts indicate it was at least partially built in December 1963, months before the Mustang started production on March 9th, 1964. However, the data plate on the door indicates a 1965 body code and a production date of March 5th, 1964 — that makes it what most people would refer to as a 1964.5 Mustang.
The trim tag also tells us it came with Raven Black paint, black interior, a 3.89 axle, and a 4-speed manual transmission. Check out our Mustang Data Plate Decoder for more details.
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