Gail Wise of Park Ridge still draws attention when she and her husband, Tom, tool around in their sporty “skylight blue” Mustang. And why not? The iconic car is in pristine condition, looking much like it did some 60 years ago when Wise first drove it out of the showroom.
Tom and Gail Wise with their 1964 Mustang
Wise still remembers that eventful day. It was April 15, 1964 and she had started teaching school in Berkeley, which was 12 miles from her parents’ home in Park Ridge. She finally decided she needed a car of her own, leading Wise and her father to drive to Johnson Ford on Cicero Avenue in Chicago.
Her family always drove Fords, and she knew she wanted a convertible, but she had no idea she’d be making history that day. When they didn’t have a convertible in the showroom, the salesman took her in the back and gave her a peak at their newest model, the Ford Mustang, which was to be unveiled two days later, on April 17, 1964 at the New York World’s Fair.
“I was so excited to see the sport little car,” Wise says. “It was my dream car. It was a convertible, it had bucket seats and automatic transmission on the floor along with a push button radio. The price was $3,500 and my beginning teacher salary was $5,000, but I knew my parents would help me out and I would pay them back.”
When she drove it out of the dealership, Wise says she felt like a movie star. She still does, when she and her husband drive it around town. The car still turns heads and leads to inevitable conversations.
The Mustang after sitting dormant for 27 years
“Yes, Mustangers are excited to meet me and tell their stories of purchasing a Mustang,” Wise says. “Some recall their Mustang taking them to college. The Mustang is a part of history.”
Wise kept the Mustang when she and her husband married, and it moved with them out to Charleston, SC for a time, all while they raised their four children. Back in the Chicago area, Tom Wise drove it to work, until one day when it broke down and he literally had to push it into the garage.
The Mustang sat in the garage for the next 27 years, until, in his retirement, Tom Wise decided to restore it. It would take a couple of years, but with the help of a new paint job from Greg’s Autobody Shop in Lake Bluff, having the engine and carburetor professionally cleaned and restoring the seats inside, it looked brand new.
Wise still has the original bill of sale, as well as the notarized new car invoice and the registered owner’s manual. Together, these documents support her claim that this was the very first Mustang sold by the Ford Motor Co. in this country, and Ford officials have recognized her.
Back in 2014, when the company celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Mustang, the couple — and their car — were invited to the celebration in Dearborn. The company featured Wise’s story on its website and the interview requests started pouring in. One person who saw the story was one of Wise’s third grade students, who was working for Ford in Dearborn at the time.
“He remembered being in my class when I brought the car to school,” Wise says. “Imagine that he was only 8 years old, but there was so much excitement about the Mustang.”
There still is. They have appeared twice at the Chicago Auto Show and various Mustang Club shows, where they enjoy talking with other Mustangers.
“Other antique car admirers enjoy meeting us and hearing the story,” Wise says. “We all admire how cars were built — inside and out.”
Other News:
