Ultra-Rare ’65 Ford Mustang Used at Magic Skyway Ride Heads to Auction
Just 11 Ford Mustang convertibles were built for this special use, and this is one of only three known to still exist.
The Ford Mustang is famous for a number of reasons, and America’s pony car also left an indelible mark on the country as a whole when it launched back in the mid-1960s. Back then, the Mustang looked like the future, a popular topic at the time, and that’s precisely why 11 of them were used as part of Disney’s Magic Skyway Ride at the 1965 New York World’s Fair. Just three of those original 11 are known to still exist, and this one – which just received a total restoration in in 2015 – is up for grabs at Mecum’s Indy auction this week.
Ford and Walt Disney teamed up to create what was officially known as the Ford Motor Company Wonder Rotunda for the 1965 New York World’s fair that incorporated a “Magic Skyway” to transport passengers through a Disney-designed “Time Tunnel” in new Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln convertibles. Riders were taken through a glass tube around the outside of the Rotunda before entering the attraction and being surrounded by dinosaurs and cavemen, transporting them back in time.
This impressive display lasted for two years – 1964 and 1965 – with a total of 23 Mustangs being used on the Magic Skyway. To prepare them for that special mission, Ford gave them its Show Car Prep, which involved welding seams and various other work, before shipping them to Carron & Company for additional modifications including the addition of welded-on brackets, plywood “platens,” suspension tie-downs, and guide pins used to mount them to the booster brake track.
Following their use at the Magic Skyway, the special Mustangs headed back to Carron & Company for a refurbishment, and then each was sold to the public. That includes this 1965 Ford Mustang, which was purchased by the current owner back in 1978. It retains most all of its original parts, including the Magic Skyway attachment points, 200 cubic-inch inline-six cylinder powerplant, C4 automatic transmission, sheetmetal, and glass.
These special Mustangs carried an estimated 40,000 people each over 5,000 miles on Disney’s attraction, but today, this particular 1965 model is one of only three known to still exist of the original 11, and it’s the only restored example of the trio. It’s also a truly cool piece of pony car history, and one that should attract its fair share of attention at auction, for obvious reasons.
Photos: Mecum Auctions
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