What's Yellow, Red, Red, Topless and 48 Today?

NOTE TO ALL FOLLOWERS AND THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN GETTING BLOG UPDATES IN EMAILS: Today Rick On The Road returns to its original location on Blogspot. Blog posts were blocked when we were in China last fall, so they had to go out in emails (which were NOT blocked by the Chinese authorities). Since then, there have been email updates from China, Vietnam, Canada, and Florida. We are trying to put all those email blogs back on Blogspot, but that will take time! In the meantime, thanks for finding Rick On the Road again. Tell your friends! Lots more to come...

WHAT'S YELLOW, RED. RED, TOPLESS, AND 48 TODAY?

April 17, 1964 is considered the introduction date of the Ford Mustang. Volumes have been written describing the hype and frenzy at the time for this sensation of a vehicle, dubbed a 1964 1/2. As a teenager in the car capitals of Windsor and Detroit, I was more gobsmacked than most. and totally unable to ever think of having one. The Mustang was just way cool.

By later coincidence, I was at the New York World's Fair in June of 1964. At the Ford Pavilion, visitors could wait in line for hours to ride IN a Mustang convertible as it toured the exhibit, self-propelled on a conveyor belt. So my very first ride was as a passenger in a dark blue 1964 1/2 convertible. For me and millions of other baby boomers, it became an icon of sportiness and independence because you could customize it with so many options and dressups.

Fast forward to 1990 when I found a 1969 Mustang Grande ragtop in a garage ---- and I could finally afford a 21-year-old car! Named Mustang Sally (duh!), we went over the Rockies. down to L.A., and back through Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Grande in Grand! Then in 2003 I hit the jackpot when I rescued a 1964 1/2 poptop in Toronto just before it was exported to Georgia. Brought back to original OMG condition, it has been whistled at and a hit at many car shows where people would regale me with their own Mustang memory. Named Red Horse, it was invited by Ford Motor Company to the 100th anniversary of Ford in Canada, as the prime example of the original pony car.

That car really owns me, not vice-versa. So it is kept in pampered indoor storage and driven only when the backroads are dry and the heart needs a thrill that a Gaga-Beiber Concert just can't deliver. But in 2010 Mustang #3 was found, in Bradenton Florida. I personally imported it on June 21 and called it Summer (June 21, get it??). It's the go-to convertible but hardly a daily driver because it has spent its first 2 Canadian winters in --- Florida!

Unlike the retro Camaro or Charger, the Mustang has never gone out of production, and still turns heads with every new edition. So Happy Anniversary to my favourite 48-year-old. Now, blow out the candles with your dual exhaust!