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Before the launch of the Ford Mustang in 1964, a pre-production vehicle was sent to car dealerships. They were not meant to be sold to customers, but one of them – with the very first Mustang serial number – was purchased by a pilot in Newfoundland.
Harry Phillips, a salesman at George G. R. Parsons Ford in St. Johns, Newfoundland, told CNN that it was the "easiest" sale he had ever made.
The all-new Mustang had just been delivered to the dealership from the factory, and it was exposed near the road. It was a "revolutionary car" of the time, Phillips said.
It was a convertible covered in white Wimbledon color with a black interior and that quickly attracted the attention of an airline pilot, Captain Stanley Tucker.
"He saw it on the road and I was the lucky one who was closest to him at the time," Phillips said. "He looked at it and said:" It's mine. "
The car sold for $ 4,300, according to Phillips.
The official launch date for the Mustang was April 17, 1964, but Tucker bought it on the 14th, according to Matt Anderson, curator of transportation at the museum.
Keeping this in mind, Tucker reached an agreement with the dealer, buying it, but left it on sale for a few weeks.
"We moved the car into the showroom that day," Phillips said. "He came every day to check and make sure no one was doing anything about it."
Phillips was still unaware of the importance of the model until a few months later, when it was unclear where the Mustang with serial number 5F08F100001 was.
"This vehicle was a pre-production and had to be returned to Ford," said Anderson.
Pre-production vehicles are essentially practice cars for the workers who assemble them, according to Anderson. They do not have the quality of cars for sale, and on this Mustang, this is evident in crooked panels and missing details such as rings around the door lock, according to Anderson.
Ford took two years to negotiate with Tucker to recover the vehicle. In exchange for the first built Mustang, Ford awarded him the millionth – a 1966 model with all the bells and whistles.
"He had traveled about 10,000 km in those two years," said Anderson. "But it was in good condition."
The car was stored and in 1984 made its debut at the museum.
Phillips had a career in car sales and retired in 1995, having never seen the Mustang sold by mistake in 1964.
Phillips, his daughter and granddaughter will travel to Michigan on Friday for a VIP tour.
"It's not very often that we meet someone who was involved in our cars, especially a remarkable man like this," Anderson said.
The museum reserves a full day of activities at Phillips, including a visit to the Rouge factory where this historic Mustang was built. This will be Phillips' first time at the museum.
"It's just fantastic, I can not believe it," said Phillips about his trip. "Everyone tells me to take a bunch of pictures."
Besides the Mustang, Phillips said he was eager to see all the old-fashioned Ford, especially those of the mid-50s.
Justin Lear from CNN contributed to this story.
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