2014 is the year of the Ford Mustang, with the 50th anniversary of Ford’s vaunted pony car dominating the automotive news cycle and giving rise to dozens of gatherings around the country. One of the coolest Mustang assemblages of all is the new “Mustangs Forever: 50 Years of a Legend” exhibit that opens this weekend at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, which kicks off this weekend with a Mustang Madness celebration and will remain open through October of this year.
The exhibit is a vertible feast of hood scoops (we counted 22) and exhaust pipes (we spotted 77—including 32 on one car alone!), with at least one example of each generation represented—yes, including the Mustang II. One of the more clever exhibit elements is a wall full of colorful stripes that displays, year by year, the paint colors available on Mustangs, some of which—like avocado green and even pink—one could hardly imagine on a contemporary model.
Since we’re not big on crowds, we dropped by early for some private drool time with the cars as the Petersen folks finished putting the final touches on the Mustangs Forever exhibit. As you can see, all the lighting had yet to be installed, the info boards weren’t in place, and the cars had yet to assume their final positions (we even witnessed one featured car being moved into place). It basically looked like a Mustang collector’s dream garage—no frills, just Mustangs—and it was awesome.
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The only Mustang that hadn’t arrived yet when we visited is the one we’re all waiting for: the all-new 2015 model. It will be among the cars on display when the event opens, albeit for just a short time before it has to leave for another venue. Nearly all the other cars will remain on display all summer.
We’ve highlighted a few of our favorites below, and you can see many, many more cars in the gallery.
1965 Ford Mustang Convertible
Former President Ronald Reagan toured the state of California during his successful 1966 campaign for governor in this Mustang convertible, which was owned by his assistant campaign director Dave Tomshany. By the end of the campaign, more than 16,000 miles had been racked up, although we’re not sure how much Vitalis Ronnie went through to keep his trademark coif in place. In any case, we’re positive the car helped him win.
1974 Ford Mustang II Coupe
There are few cars held in more contempt than the Pinto-based Mustang II, but it was a sales success. More important, it kept the Mustang brand alive while other pony and muscle cars languished. The Petersen purchased this plain but well-preserved, 80K-mile coupe for $2800 in Palm Springs just days before the exhibit opened, and it still had its owner tags on the car when we saw it. It’s powered by a 2.3-liter four-cylinder, and had a four-speed manual transmission. In a room full of testosterone, you gotta give this little guy credit for standing out, and we have a feeling it’s going to be a surprise star of the show.
1969 Ford “Four Engine” Mustang Mach IV Dragster
Ford introduced the Mach 1 performance package with the 351 Windsor V-8 in 1969, prompting drag racer Gary Weckesser to created his own dragster with three more engines for a combined total of 3000 horsepower. The four engines run through a single clutch, and send their prodigious output to all four wheels. The narrow, fiberglass body was plucked from a contemporary funny car and sits on a custom chrome-moly tube chassis. Popular on the show circuit during the early 1970s, the “Four Engine Mustang” was no trailer queen, running the quarter-mile in seven seconds and trapping at 180 mph.
1965 Shelby GT350 “Barn Find”
This GT350 was stashed in a garage in the early ’70s and stayed there for 40 years. A sympathetic and primarily mechanical restoration later, the car has its original Wimbledon white paint and faded blue stripes, high-po 289-cubic inch V-8, and four-speed T10 transmission.
2011 Ford Mustang GT Retractable Hardtop
This custom 2011 Ford Mustang GT retractable hardtop was built by Galpin Auto Sports and debuted at the 2010 SEMA show in Las Vegas. The public is said to have gone wild over the car and its Benz-ish roofline, after which Galpin decided to offer conversions to the public for the 2012 model year. The work was extensive and expensive, however, and sales were nonexistent. This two-seat show car features custom orange paint, a Ford Racing suspension kit, a MagnaFlow exhaust, and the stock 412-hp 5.0-liter V-8.
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