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This is a rare piece of history in the middle of a full restoration. First, here is some background information:
Ford put on a special competition between dealerships in order to distribute the planned pace car replicas to be released for sale to the public. The competition consisted of "Checkered Flag" and "Green Flag" contests that were based on the sales performance of the dealerships prior to the April 17, 1964 introduction of the Mustang. The top five performers in each district would receive a pace car replica for free, or at a significant discount, based on their final standings in the sales contest. With 36 districts this added up to 180 replicas, however, because of dealership ties and strong performances, approximately 10 extra replicas were made, bringing the total to an estimated 190. Representatives from the 105 winning dealerships were invited to Dearborn for a special celebration, where the keys to their replicas were handed over by Mr. Lee Iacocca himself.
Each of the replicas were coupes painted in Pace Car White (paint code "C" for '64 1/2) and had white interiors with blue appointments (code "42"). The cars were equipped with the 260 V8 engine, power steering, rear back-up lights and automatic transmissions. Other identifying features of the pace car replicas include pace car blue racing stripes up the center of the hood and "Official Pace Car" decals along the sides of the car. The words "PACE CAR" were written on the radiator support with a grease pencil of some kind, and then later painted over. The center stripes did not get placed on the taillight panel around the gas cap on coupes, but they did on the dignitary convertibles. Apparently some cars did not have the decals installed at the dealership, and due to a press photo showing a prototype with the stripes installed to one side rather than down the middle a few cars ended up with the stripes in this incorrect location.
Another interesting fact with regards to the replica cars was the lack of outside mirrors. Standard procedure at the time was for cars to be delivered to the dealerships with the outside mirrors placed loose inside the car. When the car was prepped by the dealership the mirrors were then installed. However, the pace car replicas were not delivered the same way as regular Mustangs... the Checkered Flag cars were retrieved by the winning dealers from Dearborn, and the Green Flag cars were retrieved from the District Sales Office by the dealer. This meant that these cars did not end up with an outside mirror.
The VINs of the cars are sequentially numbered, but the DSOs reflect the dealerships that they were sent too. All of the replicas were built in April, except for the extras mentioned earlier that were built in May, and given a DSO of 84 ("Home Office" designation)
As you can see, there were only 190 of these cars produced. To date, I have heard that only about 50 of them have been accounted for. Many of them, like this one, are not restored.
I purchased this car about 3-1/2 years ago from an owner in California. This was to be the final Mustang Indy 500 Pace Car in my collection. (I previously owned 1979 and 1994 Mustang Pace Cars). However, personal financial considerations will prevent me from being able to complete the project and require me to sell the car (along with my other Mustang Pace Cars). Hopefully, someone else will have the opportunity to complete the project of restoring this piece of automotive history. I have all of the parts for the car with the exception of the carpet, the interior door panels, and the headliner. The front end sheet metal that I have as well as the hood are reproductions and therefore may not be suitable for use in a full restoration. The 260 V8 engine and the C4 transmission are intact, but have not had any work done on them yet. I am not sure what the exact mileage is on the car.
When I first purchased the car, it had a vinyl top installed on it. Upon removing the vinyl, I found that there had been numerous "grooves" rusted in to the roof sheet metal. Either the vinyl top caused moisture to be trapped, or it was installed to cover previous damage. Either way, the damage will require either extensive work to be done o the roof or the roof sheet metal will need to be replaced. After finding this damage, I completely dismantled the car and had the body, doors, and deck lid have all been acid dipped. The acid dipping as well as the work that has been completed on the body were done by "The Mustang Ranch" in Indianapolis. The following information is from a data plate decoder verifying that this car is one of the 190 cars since no other cars that year were painted "Pace Car White". Classic Mustang Decoder Results
Warranty Number: 5F07F113402
Year: 5 1965 (1964 1/2)
Plant: F Dearborn, MI
Body Series: 07 2 Door Hardtop
Engine: F 260 2v V8
Unit: 113402 113402
Miscellaneous Vehicle Data
Body: 65A 2 Door Hardtop, Standard Interior
Color: C Pace Car White
Trim: 42 White Crinkle Vinyl with Blue Appointments, Standard Interior
Date: 14D April 14, 1964
D.S.O: 72 San Jose
Axle: 1 3.00:1, Conventional
Trans: 6 C4 Automatic
WARRANTY NUMBER (required)
BODY COLOR TRIM DATE D.S.O. AXLE TRANS
I am not an expert on these cars, so please let me know if you have any other information. I have pictures of the car as I purchased it, so let me know if you would like to see any of these. Also please contact me if you have any other questions. I reserve the right to end the auction early. Thanks for your interest!
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