Ford Celebrates 50 Years Of The Mustang

Two of the world’s most recognisable icons are coming together April 16-17 as the all-new Ford Mustang will be on display on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in New York

The display – replicating the same feat from nearly 50 years ago – coincides with the global celebration of 50 years since Mustang debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.

“New York is one of the greatest cities in the world, and it’s the place where the Ford Mustang story began 50 years ago,” said Mark Fields, Ford chief operating officer. “We’re thrilled to be visiting the architectural landmark that has been the heart of the Manhattan skyline for 83 years with the newest generation of the car that is the soul of Ford Motor Company.”

Taking a car 86 stories above the densely populated streets of Midtown Manhattan is no simple task. No portable crane can reach the 86th floor observatory, and the spire towering above the relatively narrow deck makes helicopter delivery impossible. That leaves the elevators as the only viable option.

When the Empire State Building opened in 1931 as the world’s then-tallest building – a title it held for nearly 40 years – no one would have envisioned trying to transport a car up in the original elevators. But in 1965, a prototype Mustang convertible was sliced into three main sections plus windshield so that the sections would fit into those elevators.

50 Years Of The Ford Mustang Hartwell

The new Mustang is nearly 180mm longer and 100mm wider than its ancestor, making the task of transporting it up even more challenging. Working from computer engineering data, team members preparing the display car have found just the right places to make the cuts so everything can be loaded onto custom-made racks that can be rolled into the elevators.

Once everything is transported up 86 floors, the technicians will have less than six hours to reassemble the sections into a complete car that will be on display above Manhattan.

New Ford Mustang
The new Mustang is the most advanced version yet of the iconic car and goes on sale in the UK in 2015. The sleek new design of Mustang fastback and convertible is backed up by world-class performance from a range of available engines, including an all-new turbocharged 2.3-litre EcoBoost and a 5.0-litre V8 with more than 426PS.