Apr 04 2015

The 2014 Ford Employee PDC Car and Truck Show: Three Mustang Prototypes Together for the First Time


For over 20 years, Ford employees and retirees have proudly displayed their favorite automobiles at the Annual Ford Employee Product Development Center Car and Truck Show on the PDC grounds in Dearborn, Michigan. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Mustang, three Mustang prototypes were shown at the 2014 Ford PDC event; the Mustang I concept owned by the Henry Ford Museum, the Mustang II concept owned by the Detroit Historical Museum and the Mustang III concept owned then by Bill Snyder.

Below are three articles and photos from the 2014 event.

Enjoy,

Howard Kroplick

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Together For the First Time? Mustang I, Mustang II & Mustang III Concepts – 3D Photos

Carsindepth.com

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Ronnie Schreiber

We’ve featured the 1962 Mustang I and the 1963 Mustang II concepts here before, separately. I don’t know how often the two cars are displayed together, because they’re owned by different museums. However, it can’t be too frequently. There was a Mustang III concept as well, a show car built for Ford’s Custom Car Caravan by Dearborn Steel Tubing, one of the fabrication shops Ford used in the 1960s. It was a shortened, two seat fastback with custom fiberglass panels. It was so popular that Ford bought it, renamed it the Mustang III and put it on the show circuit. Bill Snyder, who has owned the car since the 1960s, restored it not long ago and only recently started showing the car so this is likely the first time all three original Mustang concept cars have appeared together

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Annual PDC Car Show Highlights 50 Years of Mustang

@FordOnline

By China Haley

Jul-31-2014 2:00 PM ET


DEARBORN, Mich. ­– While you can’t turn back the hands of time, you can take a trip down memory lane. Nearly 4,000 Ford employees, retirees and visitors recently did just that, taking a moment to reflect on the hundreds of timeless Mustang classics on display at the annual Product Development Center (PDC) car show.

Attendees also got a glimpse into the future as a replica of the 50th Anniversary 2015 Mustang stood out for all to see. But it certainly didn’t steal the show, as the spotlight shined bright on all the many different generations of Mustang, including several prototypes.

“This year our theme is the 50th Anniversary Mustang and we did some special exhibits,” said Dave Glickman, event coordinator, PDC Truck and Car Show. “We have the horseshoe exhibit where we have one of every single year in stock condition since the Mustang has been manufactured.”

You can see a sea of Mustangs as they were captured high above the crowd by photographer Keith Tolman. The first row features significant Mustangs as they relate to the history of the product development story. In all, the photo includes the following models:
• 1962 Mustang I
• 1963 Mustang II
• 1965-1/2 Mustang III
• Two HFII custom 1964-1/2 prototypes
• 1960 Falcon
• 1967 Mercury Cougar Dan Gurney Special
• 1965 Powercar Mustang Jr.
• 1964-1/2 AMF Midget Mustang
• 1965 Shelby R002 and S003
• 1969 Shelby Boss 302 (first two of and last of first-generation Shelbys)
• 1972 Pinto Runabout
• 1976 Mustang II Western Prototype
• 1977 Mustang II Cobra II Monroe Handler
• 1980 Fairmont Squire
• 1979 Mustang Daytona Concept
• 1989 proposed 25th Anniversary Twin Turbo
• 2006 Shelby GT 500
• 2005 Transformers Barricade Supercharged Promotion Car
• 2015 Convertible

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Priceless Mustang I Concept Almost Damaged in Car Show Incident

thetruthaboutcars.com

By Ronnie Schreiber on November 8, 2014

If you go to enough museums and car shows around Detroit, sooner or later you’ll get to see the Mustang I concept of 1962, normally on display at the Henry Ford Museum’s Driving America exhibit, and the Mustang II concept of 1963, which is owned by the Detroit Historical Museum. For example, the Mustang I was part of Ford’s display at the 2014 North American International Auto Show. Though the Historical Museum’s building doesn’t have much space for car displays, its own proto-Mustang is frequently loaned out and just a few weeks before these photos were taken, the car was on display in Flint at the Sloan Museum’s Auto Fair. Since I’ve shot the Mustang II concept a couple of times before, when I was at the Sloan show, I didn’t bother taking any photos of it that day. However, because the two cars are owned by different institutions, getting a chance to see and photograph both of the first two Mustang concept cars together is a rare thing. Getting to see both of those cars together, along with an early short wheelbase two seat Mustang show car that Ford adopted and renamed the Mustang III, may have been a unique experience.  The “shorty” Mustang III only started being shown again, after almost a half century, in 2013, so this may well have been the first time these three cars were displayed together.

All three Mustang concepts were on display at the Ford Product Development Center Employees’ Car Show held on the grounds of the PDC in Dearborn. Babysitting the Mustang I was Matt Anderson, who is the transportation curator at the Henry Ford Museum and a representative of the Detroit Historical Museum was there to keep an eye on the Mustang II. The Mustang III has been in private hands ever since the original owner bought if from Ford’s insurance company after the car had been stolen by its designer to save it from the crusher and was later recovered.

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Comments

Apr 05 2015 gene martin 11:06 AM

I enjoy your “stuff”  THANKS I worked at the L.I.auto museum and austie had a lot of relics,but also had a nice collection of fords,maybe 10 or so.his many books of autos and repair manuals are at the ford museum. His back barns and attic in the museum were full of parts,some he sold and some he kept.I raced with austie in the 1911 mercer at Bridgehampton in 1950.that car sold last year for 2.3 mil.I was very sorry when the museum closed,because many people will never no the amount of very nice old museum cars                     thanks Gene Martin

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