"The Automobile is the Art"
|
|
The Ford Mustang With a German Accent! |
|
$10,000..... that was the wafer-thin line between immortal and immaterial at Ford Motor Company in 1966. In many households, $10,000 is still a lot of money. For the nation’s #2 automaker streaking toward $12.2 billion in sales in 1966, $10,000 was two days of lunches in the Executive Dining Room where daily fare consisted of fresh Dover Sole flown in from England, Oysters Rockefeller, roast pheasant, and fancy chocolates. That contrast has left me searching for logic on any level that would explain why Ford would pass on spending a mere $10,000 to solve the simplest of Pony Car puzzles.
1966 was an intoxicating time at Ford which was well on its way to selling a record shattering 607,568 Mustangs. I feel completely secure in making the bold prediction that this record will never be broken. By comparison, Ford sold 44,332 Mustangs in 2022.
|
|
From six cylinders to Shelbys, Mustangs were the rage around the world 57 years ago…..everywhere except one place….Germany. The problem wasn’t the car, it was the name. Krupp, a German truck manufacturer, owned the copyright to the name Mustang which it attached to a line of trucks beginning way back in 1951. That’s not to say that the name belonged on such a beast. Krupp’s version of the Mustang looked more like a heavy-hoofed Clydesdale. Krupp’s Mustang was clearly a workhorse not a wild horse.
|
|
|
This wasn’t a hostage situation. Krupp actually offered to sell the Mustang name to Ford for the aforementioned $10,000. Standing on principle or perhaps out of sheer stubbornness, Ford refused and elected to spend far more to remove every reference to the Mustang name and market a look-alike in Germany called the T-5 which was the original project name for the Mustang in the early 60s. T5s are so rare that most Mustang enthusiasts don’t even know they exist. |
|
Aside from the obvious T-5 fender badge, differences in the T-5 and the Mustang included a 200 Kilometer speedometer, exterior lighting to meet European regulations, a suspension equipped for European roads and installation of a shock tower brace from the Shelby GT350 to better handle European roads.
Only 531 T-5s were built in 1966, making it the rarest mainstream production car in Ford Motor Company history. Of those 531, owners Joel and Bridget Kelley-Hensley of Menominee, MI are graciously sharing their “rarest of the rare” T-5 with us at The Automobile Gallery & Event Center. The Hensley’s all-original T-5 GT has a mere 18,690 Kilometers (11,613 miles) on the clock and is officially documented by the T-5 Registry to be 1 of just 2 in the world with the GT package, the high-performance 289 K-code engine and 4-speed transmission. The only other one is in a private collection 4,500 miles away in Switzerland.
Krupp’s copyright eventually expired in 1973, but there isn’t any expiration date on a one-of-a-kind rarity like this T-5. The Automobile Gallery & Event Center is the only place in the world you can experience something so American with a German accent! One word sums it up....Wunderbar!
|
|
See this exclusive Mustang T-5 and 100 other great classics at these upcoming events!
March 23: Gallery Members Only Annual Celebration
(if you want to become a member, follow THIS link)
May 15-21: Brown County Historical Days
(Buy one admission, get one free all week; week-of FREE events to be posted on our website soon)
May 20: Festa Italiano (Italian Car Show)
June 17: Cars & Guitars Car Show
September 14: Cruisin' the Classics, Daddy D's Production
September 30: AUTOberfest (German Car Show)
November 9: Patriotic Salute, Daddy D's Production
December 2: Old Fashion Chrismas, Daddy D's Production
...Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details on each!
|
|
Joyce-Lyn & Steve Altieri
Brent Baker
James Bednarowski
Christopher Boland
Ann & Steve Bradford
Kaleb Cieslewicz
Grant De Broux
Joe Griffiths & Family
Keith Obermiller & Family
Tom & Dawn Olejniczak
Michael Sullivan &M2Logistics
Jeff & Cheryl Tyndall
|
|
Contemporary Automobile Gallery and Event Venue
"The Automobile is the Art"
|
|
Gallery open 9:00am - 3:00pm daily, hours subject to change.
*Prepurchase Tickets and Gift Certificates Available*
|
|
You are receiving this email because you interacted with The Automobile Gallery by becoming a member, making an online purchase, entering a giveaway, purchasing admission tickets or filling out our online subscription form. We do not like SPAM, therefore we will not sell or share your email address. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
