Only a Handful of Cars Have Ever Received This Honor. This 1964 Mustang Just Joined Them.

On the morning of April 17, 1964, visitors to Ford’s pavilion at the New York World’s Fair had a surprise. Twelve Mustangs were added to the existing selection of Ford vehicles — Continentals, Galaxies and Fairlanes — ready to carry guests on a groundbreaking journey designed by WED Enterprises, the Imagineering arm of The Walt Disney Company. 

Today, that historic debut has been permanently honored: One of the World’s Fair Mustangs is being inducted into the prestigious National Historic Vehicle Register.

You can see the Mustang in Washington DC now through July 14 at Driving America Forward: A Ford Experience at Union Station. Visitors can see this rare piece of automotive history and 9 other vehicles free of charge in the Main Hall of Union Station. 

Reserved for vehicles of extraordinary significance to American history and culture, the Register is a partnership between the Hagerty Drivers Foundation and the U.S. Department of Interior’s Historic American Engineering Record, with all documentation permanently archived in the Library of Congress.

When Ford and WED began creating a vision for the ride, the one dictate that Henry Ford II had required was that the guest would experience the pavilion inside a Ford, and that they did. 

A Disney Press release described it: “Riding in Ford's 1964 automobiles, transported on a version of WED's recently developed ‘People–Mover,’ the highly versatile ‘WEDway Transit System,’ guests in the Ford pavilion are not hampered by time or space limitations. They begin their memorable ‘Magic Skyway’ adventure by erasing eons of time in a simulated ‘Time Tunnel.’” 

The technology that propelled these motorless ride cars was groundbreaking. Metal plates and steering rods were attached to the bottom of each of Mustang, placing them on a track where tires under the cars would propel them forward traveling along a 12-minute journey showing the advancement of mankind over time.

It was the perfect coming out party for the Mustang. Ford worked hard to design a car that was stylish, sporty and appealing to the forthcoming “Baby Boomer” generation.  With its sleek and sporty look and a variety of engines to choose from, the Mustang was the perfect car for the under 30 set.

An estimated 15 million people visited the Ford Pavilion to enjoy the ride at the New York World’s Fair. One of whom was Jay Leno, who loaned us his 1934 Flathead Ford V-8 truck for the Union Station exhibit. He told me that he begged his parents to take him to the Fair so he could ride in a Mustang. While in line, he let other cars pass until he hopped in the Pony car to fulfill his wish.

Ford Motor Company, in a groundbreaking move, purchased airtime on all three of the networks at the same time to celebrate the Mustang with the low entry level price of $2,368. “Mustang Mania” went into full swing with people camping out a dealerships to be the first to purchase the cars. Ford sold more than a million units the first two years with a whopping 43% of the sales to women.

 It is hardly surprising that the Mustang became the first and only car to ever receive the prestigious Tiffany and Company Gold Medal Award for Excellence in American Design, citing the design, accessibility, and price.

After the Fair closed, all the cars used for the ride were sold to private individuals. The specific Mustang featured in this exhibit was part of the second wave of Mustangs installed for the 1965 season and is one of only four still known to exist. It still has its original 6-cylinder 120 HP engine, Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission. A 1966 AM radio with 8-track player and a bench seat were added before it was sold off the Ford Resale "B" lot in December of 1965. 

While it has just over 35,000 miles on the odometer, I imagine if you added all the circuits around the Ford Pavilion, that number would be much higher. Now, as a newly minted member of the National Historic Vehicle Register, the Mustang’s incredible journey from a Word’s Fair ride to an American treasure is officially preserved for generations to come.