COLOGNE, Germany, March 25, 2014 – 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.
“Like all good craftsmen, our team is measuring twice and cutting once to make sure we can get this Mustang up in the elevators,” said Dave Pericak, Mustang chief engineer. “Like the team that did this in 1965, the current crew visited the Empire State Building before starting and took careful measurements of its new elevators and doors before cutting up the car.”
The new Mustang is nearly 18 centimetres longer and 10 centimetres 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.
Visitors to the Empire State Building observation deck can see the new Mustang convertible from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., April 16-17.
Also beginning April 16, enthusiasts representing 16 countries will gather in the United States to celebrate 50 years of the Ford Mustang. The official international celebration will be so large that Ford Motor Company and the Mustang Club of America (MCA) will simultaneously hold it at two locations from April 16-20. It is open to everyone, not just Mustang owners and MCA members. MCA has also organised “Pony Drives” so Mustang owners can travel in groups to each venue.
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. will all be represented as groups from North America, South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand carry their country flags to Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas.
“Even though the Ford Mustang has not traditionally been offered globally, the passion for the first pony car is truly international,” said Ronald D. Bramlett, Mustang Club of America’s executive director of the Mustang 50th Birthday Celebration. “Enthusiasts from across the globe are planning to attend and share their personal Mustang stories. Some are even shipping their Mustang to the United States to drive their car as part of the milestone event.”
Details continue to be finalised for the MCA events. Information is continuously updated on a special website, http://www.mustang50thbirthdaycelebration.com/ and at the MCA website, http://www.mustang.org/.
New Ford Mustang
The new Mustang is the most advanced version yet of the iconic car and goes on sale in Europe 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 426 PS.
Ford Mustang was revealed to the world with a television advertising campaign on the evening of April 16, 1964, before being shown to the public at the New York World’s Fair on April 17. The car officially went on sale that day, and Ford dealers accumulated a record 22,000 sales and orders that first day on the way to more than 418,000 sales in the first year and 1 million sales in less than two years. Over the past five decades, more than 9 million Mustangs have been sold.
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 181,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information about Ford and its products worldwide please visit www.corporate.ford.com.
Ford of Europe is responsible for producing, selling and servicing Ford brand vehicles in 50 individual
markets and employs approximately 47,000 employees at its wholly owned facilities and approximately
67,000 people when joint ventures and unconsolidated businesses are included. In addition to Ford Motor
Credit Company, Ford Europe operations include Ford Customer Service Division and 22 manufacturing
facilities (13 wholly owned or consolidated joint venture facilities and nine unconsolidated joint venture
facilities). The first Ford cars were shipped to Europe in 1903 – the same year Ford Motor Company was
founded. European production started in 1911.
Soaring 443 metres (1,454 feet) above Midtown Manhattan (from base to antenna), the Empire State Building, owned by Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., is the “World’s Most Famous Office Building.” With new investments in energy efficiency, infrastructure, public areas and amenities, the Empire State Building has attracted first-rate tenants in a diverse array of industries from around the world. The skyscraper’s robust broadcasting technology supports all major television and FM radio stations in the New York metropolitan market. The Empire State Building was named America’s favorite building in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects, and the Empire State Building Observatory is one of the world’s most beloved attractions as the region’s #1 tourist destination. For more information on the Empire State Building, please visit www.esbnyc.com, www.facebook.com/empirestatebuilding, @EmpireStateBldg, www.instagram.com/empirestatebldg, www.youtube.com/esbnyc or www.pinterest.com/empirestatebldg/.
Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, including the Empire State Building, the world’s most famous office building. Headquartered in New York, New York, the Company’s office and retail portfolio covers 8.4 million rentable square feet, as of December 31, 2013, consisting of 7.7 million rentable square feet in 12 office properties, including seven in Manhattan, three in Fairfield County, Connecticut and two in Westchester County, New York; and approximately 623,000 rentable square feet in the retail portfolio. The Company also owns land at the Stamford, Connecticut Transportation Center that supports the development of an approximately 380,000 rentable square foot office building and garage and has an option to acquire two additional Manhattan office properties encompassing approximately 1.5 million rentable square feet of office space and over 150,000 rentable square feet of retail space at the base of the buildings.
The Mustang Club of America is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, care, history, and enjoyment of all model years of Mustang, Shelby, Boss, Saleen, Roush, SVT Cobra, Steeda, and McLaren. Membership includes enthusiasts throughout the United States, Canada, and worldwide and more than 170 Regional Clubs.
