The Legend You Can Hear Coming

Fifty years ago, the legend of the Ford Mustang began with “Mr. Cool” Steve McQueen, taking the wheel in the 1968 movie, Bullitt, for the mother of all cinematic car chases.

Ford Motor gave the production company two Highland Green,1968 Ford Mustang 390 GTs. One of the cars ended up junked and the other disappeared until last year when a family living near Nashville notified Henry Ford Museum in Detroit that they indeed had the missing Mustang. The story of this Mustang will be featured in a documentary this year entitled, Little Pieces.

Gary Wiggins, Jasper County resident, has been a Mustang junkie since college days when he bought his first fixer-upper Mustang for $50. Some 30-40 Mustangs later, he is still chasing the fantasy of Mustang aficionados—the 1968 Shelby Mustang GT-500 convertible, only 402 were ever built.

Wiggins’ day job for the past 18 years is piloting Boeing 767s on international flights for Delta Airlines while enjoying the hunt for his next Mustang. His favorite is a 1970 model for its long hood and chopped back. He says, “The style screams a big powerful engine and you don’t need trunk space.”

In fact, the Serial Number One 1965 Mustang was sold to a pilot. When Ford Motor realized the popularity of the Mustang with over one million sold in less than two years, they approached Stanley Tucker, the pilot and owner of Serial Number One with an offer he said he couldn’t refuse, a Silver Frost 1966 Mustang convertible with full options.

Today, Serial Number One holds a special place at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit to be joined by the newly found Bullitt Mustang.