...article by Bill Wells
I have very fond and very personal memories of the 1962 Mustang I prototype. In fact, those memories date back to 1962/1963.
There were two Ford Vice Presidents that gave birth to that car and spearheaded its rather fast design, development and build : Gene Bordinat, VP of Styling and Herbert Misch, VP Engineering and Research. Many others were involved as well. Herb's son was one of my best friends and I have been married to his daughter for 38 years . We all went to High School together in a Detroit suburb.
I had the pleasure of being a passenger in that car in 1962/1963 time frame with Herb as the driver. I also watched the car do some exhibition laps at Waterford Hills Raceway , northwest of Detroit.
The car did exhibition laps at other tracks around the country as well. In between these displays, Herb had the car trailered to his home in the suburbs a couple of times so he could cruise the 'burbs in it, and of course, gave us rides. What a treat for me as a teenage car nut ! The first time, the car was delivered to his house in an enclosed trailer which had prancing Mustang horses painted on the side. A neighbor called the police to say " horses are being delivered and they are not allowed here ". Of course the police thought that was humorous to discover upon inspection that the assumed to be found Mustang horse was instead some strange looking car called a Mustang ! The car caused such a sensation on the local highways that Herb had to resort to driving the back residential roads due to a concern of causing accidents from onlooking drivers taking their eyes off the road and jockeying to get a better view of the car. It was a great looking car then, and it remains so today.
Interesting too that Ford at one time offered to GIVE him the car , and Herb said "NO, I look to the future and not the past". Now, would that be a treat to have tucked away at home today ?
There are many varied stories about the history of the car and involvement of various individuals. They are not all the same story, so much speculation by so many writers, not all factual. Urban legends I guess. Herb always laughed at the books or magazines with 1962 prototype stories that contained factual or historical errors , never bothering to correct them. For obvious reasons I have a collection of many Mustang history books that feature the prototype, as well as magazines and other items. The Randy Leffingwell authored Mustang history books have lengthy detailed stories about the 62 prototype with some great photos, as well as stories and pics of other concept cars. Many other Ford cars are coverd in detail as well.
One story goes that someone at Ford had ordered the car to be crushed , as was common then with many retired show/concept cars, but that someone had unknowingly hidden it away in a storage area instead. Then one day it was discovered and the decision was made to refurbish it and display it in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
The museum does not restore cars or other artifacts , they refurbish them so as to resemble what they were in a period of time after some use, not as if it was a brand new item. For years the car has been on display in the Henry Ford Museum, where it resides today, with a brief narrative and picture of Gene Bordinat and Herb Misch standing next to the car.
The picture is actually one that was part of the original media press review kit .
The 62 prototype was a project that Herb fondly recalled as the most fun project he did, and one of several he was most proud of. Herb remained a VP at Ford for over 25 years and was always a car nut . He was a hands on guy who appreciated the preservation of the past but always discounted it as only a step to the future. He always smiled at my Superformance and said nice car , and was always intriqued with the puttering I was always doing on it. But, whenever he saw my 1965 restored and modified Mustang convertible, he said 'that is still a good looking car after all these years'. Yes, he was fond of Mustangs.
As an aside, his son and I would put in requests for cars for weekends when we were home from college to cruise the infamous Woodward Avenue . Oh, the company test cars we played with on Woodward : Cobra 289 roadster, 65 GT350, 67 GT 500, 68 GTE Cougar with 427 , 62 Starliner with SOHC cammer, 63 Ford with 406 tri power, 427 Fairlane, Boss 302, Boss 351,Boss 429, Mach I...and the list went on. Strange how the cars went back on Mondays with an empty tank and less rubber on the rear tires . LOL.
Herb would bring home some experimental cars that we could not drive , with special id tags on the windshield which indicated EXP and NOT to be driven by unauthorized non-company folks: a turbine powered car, a gear shift in the center of the horn
ring/ push buttons, a no steering wheel car which had instead two hand grips ala today's joy stick. Several of these we were not allowed to even look under the hood. Yep, some wild stuff. Great memories even today.
Sadly, Herb passed away in June 2003 after a brief illness. He was 85 years old and healthy mentally and physically except for a 3 month period. He remained a car nut and stayed current on the auto industry trends and developments til the end. We saw Herb several times each day as he lived within one mile of us and he would stop by as he drove by. He always had some car topic to discuss. The 1962 Mustang prototype will remain a Ford legacy for many more years, and Herb and Gene will be part of that history..as well as all the others who were part of that project . For us, Herb was a great father, a great mentor, and a great friend who is sadly missed , but the great memories live on forever as they never die.
-- Bill.