Now the fully restored (but not altered or modified) classic pony car that cost $3,447.50 is worth $350,000 to $450,000, according to Jonathan Klinger, spokesman for Hagerty in Traverse City.
DETROIT—Tom and Gail Wise disagreed about whether a broken-down car should be stored in a family garage for 27 years or sold for junk. He insisted they keep it because, he promised, one day he would find the time to fix the vehicle himself.
It was her skylight blue convertible Ford Mustang, purchased at age 22 in 1964, that their family of six drove for 15 years.
One day, it just stopped running. And there it sat until Tom retired. When he started hunting for car parts on the internet, he discovered a story about someone with a similar car who claimed to be the very first Mustang owner, with a purchase date of April 16, 1964.
“Tom came to me and said, ‘I think you bought the car a day earlier,’ ” Gail Wise recalled. “And, sure enough, he went down to the basement and found the receipt and the owner’s manual. Sure enough, I had purchased the car on April 15.”
They called Hagerty Classic Insurance, experts on collector cars, and learned a paper trail was essential.
“We had everything,” Gail Wise said. “We didn’t know it was anything special. But we kept the new car invoice, the registered owners manual. Tom’s a saver.”
So now, as Ford celebrates production of the 10-millionth Mustang, Gail Wise is back in the spotlight. She was at company headquarters last week and, from Thursday through Saturday this week, her Mustang will be on public display in Royal Oak, Mich.
“It’s like being a movie star at 76,” she said with a tiny laugh. “I felt like a movie star at 22 when I bought the car. I mean, that was 54 years ago and we’re still talking about it.”
Her story, she notes, is filled with luck and mystery.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/new...ollar350000/ar-BBLUdB8?ocid=spartandhp#page=2
DETROIT—Tom and Gail Wise disagreed about whether a broken-down car should be stored in a family garage for 27 years or sold for junk. He insisted they keep it because, he promised, one day he would find the time to fix the vehicle himself.
It was her skylight blue convertible Ford Mustang, purchased at age 22 in 1964, that their family of six drove for 15 years.
One day, it just stopped running. And there it sat until Tom retired. When he started hunting for car parts on the internet, he discovered a story about someone with a similar car who claimed to be the very first Mustang owner, with a purchase date of April 16, 1964.
“Tom came to me and said, ‘I think you bought the car a day earlier,’ ” Gail Wise recalled. “And, sure enough, he went down to the basement and found the receipt and the owner’s manual. Sure enough, I had purchased the car on April 15.”
They called Hagerty Classic Insurance, experts on collector cars, and learned a paper trail was essential.
“We had everything,” Gail Wise said. “We didn’t know it was anything special. But we kept the new car invoice, the registered owners manual. Tom’s a saver.”
So now, as Ford celebrates production of the 10-millionth Mustang, Gail Wise is back in the spotlight. She was at company headquarters last week and, from Thursday through Saturday this week, her Mustang will be on public display in Royal Oak, Mich.
“It’s like being a movie star at 76,” she said with a tiny laugh. “I felt like a movie star at 22 when I bought the car. I mean, that was 54 years ago and we’re still talking about it.”
Her story, she notes, is filled with luck and mystery.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/new...ollar350000/ar-BBLUdB8?ocid=spartandhp#page=2
