This Convertible was
sold January 2008 at the Barrett-Jackson
Auto Auction in Scottsdale to Hans Petter Holgersen from Norway. The sale price was
$19,000.
Ben Mandell - Owner Comments
There's a
story behind every Mustang and mine is no exception. The first
time that I saw one of these cars
was in 1973 when I was in high school. It was a red, white and
blue convertible Mustang. It was one
of those cars that when you see it--you never forget it. For
many years I actually thought these were 1973 models.
Sometime about 1994 I decided that I would like to have one of
these red white and blue cars. For several years
I looked for this type of car. I found fastbacks in this color
scheme but I couldn't find a convertible.
I would later find out there was a very good reason for this.
Still thinking this was a 1973, I continued my search. With the
internet getting going in a big way around 1997,
I started searching for the car there. I still could not find
the car. When I got married in 1996 my wife knew
of my interest in the car and she tried to find one.
My wife surprised me by being able to identify year, makes and
models of old cars. I asked her how she knew how
to do this and she told me that her dad taught her. That might
be the reason that I get along so well with my father in law!
For the next several years, my wife and I would go to car shows
looking for this car. Many folks told us that
they never made this car in a convertible. But, I knew that I
had seen one even though it had been many years earlier. I was
almost convinced that it might have been a dream and they really
didn't exist.
In 1999, the national MCA show was held in Charlotte. I told my
wife that I was going to the show to look for the car. She could
not go that day as we had a new 4 month old baby. So I asked my
friend Kevin and Mike to go to the show with me. Mike had
restored a 69 Mustang and knew something about them. We walked
that show for 5 hours not finding the car. Mike and Kevin were
convinced I had just made the whole thing up.
We walked into a vendor tent that was selling old Mustang and
Ford advertisements and printed materials.
I picked up an ad for the 1972 Sprints that showed a Mustang
fastback, Pinto and Maverick in the red, white and blue
combination. (this is when I realized it was a 1972--not a 1973)
I asked the vendor if he had an ad showing the Mustang
convertible. He told me that they didn't make Mustang Sprints as
a convertible. Mike and Kevin both shook their head as we left
the tent.
We must have walked about 500 feet and directly in front of us
sat the 1972 Mustang Sprint Convertible.
What didn't exist a minute ago had appeared before our very
eyes!
As Mike and Kevin starred in disbelief, I walked over the the
car. A guy named Bill S appeared within a couple of minutes. He
proceeded to explain that this was a very rare car. (no kidding)
Ford had made 50 of these cars for the Cherry Blossom Festival
parade in April, 1972 in Washington, DC. (one for each state) It
now made sense why I was having a devil of a time trying to find
one!
Was the car for sale? No it was not. But, Bill told us the owner
was in the Cobra area and did have her eye on a
Saleen Mustang over there. Bill let me sit in the car. I never
started it and never got to drive it.
We walked over to meet the owner. She quoted a price that would
knock your socks off. It was just out of my price range. Mike
tried to talk her down (by telling her the tires were old and
had dry rot) and all that did was make her mad. There
wasn't anything wrong with the tires and we all knew it.
I gave the lady my card and told her that if she was interested
in a different price that I would be willing to purchase the
car. I came home and told my wife that I had found the car. She
looked out of the kitchen window and didn't see it. I told her
that I didn't get it.
She then did something pretty amazing. She got mad at me and
asked why I didn't buy it? I told her it was a lot
of money and I just didn't think the car was worth that kind of
money. She then said that I should have gotten the car since I
had been talking about it for the past 5 years.
A couple of hours later, my wife decided that she wanted the see
the car the following day (Sunday). So the next day, we
got up and went out to the show and paid for parking and bought
tickets to get back in again. We walked over to where the
car was parked the day before and it was not there. We
then walked over to where the owner had been and we were able to
find her and husband. I asked what happened to the car and she
told me she sent it back to New York.
Then the lady started talking to me. She thought Mike was going
to buy the car and he had made her mad
with the dry rot tire deal. I told her that I was the one that
really wanted the car and that he was just trying to help me.
She told me she was really interested in the Saleen and that she
would sell the car for the right price in order to have money to
purchase the Saleen. We came to an agreement and they
tailored the car back down to North Carolina the following
weekend where it has been ever since.
Wherever my wife gets mad at me she says I spent too much money
on the Mustang. Some things never change....
