YESTERYEAR

YESTERYEAR

WHILE ATTENDING THE 1964 "CTCI" GATHERING OF CLASSIC FORD Thunderbirds IN DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, OUR FLOCK FOLLOWED THE LATE WYNNE EMINGER TO a remote parking area for our official group picture.

It was on this fateful day in June that our arrival on-the-scene hap­pened to coincide with a major Ford project. There, were several semi-trucks that were being loaded with many different new Ford vehicles, apparently destined for transport to (exotic?) sites for photos. All of the vehicles were covered so as to hide their design features as the loading procedure progressed. My wife was exited to see that the new station wagons featured a novel face-to-face seating for the rearmost passengers!

It was only a matter of time before our group discovered a red beauty hiding under one of the covers... The men in charge of loading the cars into the trailers were very reluctant to even partially uncover this particular car - it being a gorgeous Mustang Fastback! Ultimately, Wynne Eminger was able to convince the crew that he was indeed a Ford employee, and one-end of the cover was (partially) folded-back, revealing this striking Mustang's front-end treatment. Our cameras went into action as more of the cover was removed by mem­bers of the still reluctant loading crew....

Eventually, we were able to get some basically unobstructed shots - with the proviso that we wouldn't display any of the pictures until after the official release of the new model designs in September of 1964. Of course, we shutterbugs took an Oath to honor this stipula­tion!

We now fast-forward to September of 1964, when my wife and 1 were pleasantly surprised to be numbered among the 1,000 persons invited to the gala Chicago showing of the entire Ford line-up for 1965! Arriving at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago, we noticed a limo with Michigan plates - hinting that some top brass Ford people might be in attendance...

Upon entering the hotel, a "greeter" asked if we would like to meet Mr. Ford? As we walked through the doorway into the large display room, we not only met Henry Ford II, but a line-up of top Ford executives, including Lee laccoca!

The "show" lasted just two-hours, as advertised, however, we and the other guests took full-advantage of the endless supply of hors d' oeuvres and liquid refreshments from a series of small bars! Naturally, the Mustang and the other cars were "old-hat" to us, and we were amused as we observed people's reaction to the Mustang, etc.

The room lights flicked off, the bars and food tables were moved out; our (second!) Preview of the new Ford line for 1965 was history!

- Bert Eisenhour