May 2019
CENTRAL HAWKE’S BAY BRANCH of the VINTAGE CAR CLUB of NZ (Inc) Lamb Country Branch Email: centralhawkesbay@vcc.org.nz
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THE MUSTANG DEBUTS IN 1964
Postal Address C/-73 Porangahau Road Waipukurau, 4200 NOMINATED POSITIONS CHAIRMAN Lynn Cross secross@xtra.co.nz 06 858 9814 SECRETARY Ken Lyons Ken.lyons@xtra.co.nz 06 858 8093
TREASURER Kaye Carswell wpkmotors@gmail.com 06 856 9777 CLUB CAPTAIN Rod McKenzie rod.mckenzie.wpk@xtra.co.nz 06 858 9562 Gail Wise was a 22-year old school teacher in 1964 when she purchased this brand new paleblue convertible Mustang. Gail is still the owner.
On April 17th 1964 the Ford Mustang, a new two-seater sports car was unveiled by Henry Ford II at the New York World's Fair and simultaneously was made available in dealerships across the country. The pony car exceeded all expectations, with 22,000 sold on that first day and 400,000 within its inaugural year on the market. The attractive price of $2,368. had dealers inundated with requests for the sleekly-styled new vehicle. In Garland, Texas, 15 customers thronged to bid on the same Mustang. The winning bidder resorted to sleeping overnight in his new car so that it wouldn’t be sold from underneath him before his cheque was cleared. Ford initially forecasted annual sales of about 100,000 units. Within two years, sales had catapulted to one million.
COMMITTEE John Foot V.I.C. (I.D. Card) Coordinator jsfoot@xtra.co.nz 06 858 8301 Peter McCool pandscool29@gmail.com 06 856 8087 Barry Smales barlyn.wpk@gmail.com 06 858 9956 Ruth Parker brparkrz@xtra.co.nz 06 858 5411 PUBLICITY OFFICER
Shortly after its introduction, the fledgling vehicle’s success was official when it Sandra Cross was featured on the racetrack as the pace car for the 1964 Indianapolis 500. secross@xtra.co.nz When the Mustang was unveiled, the reaction was so positive that there was no doubt it was going to be a success, recalls Joe Oros, chief designer of Ford’s original pony car dubbed the 1964½, because it was launched at an unusual halfway point during the year. Mustangs began making big screen appearances in 1964 and have figured prominently in hundreds of notable films ever since.
06 858 9814 EDITOR Joyce Calder 022 166 1403 joycecalder@gmail.com