1964 NY World’s Fair

Ted Ryan, Ford Heritage Brand Manager and Archivist, revisits the Ford-Walt Disney Company connection and showcases the 1964 FORD MAGIC SKYWAY RIDE MUSTANG.

Well, that was fun! The Ford Motor Company Archives arranged the loan of one of the original “Skyway Mustangs” to the Walt Disney Company D23 Ultimate Fan Event, held in Anaheim, California. I was invited to talk about the Magic Skyway ride, which used twelve all-new Mustang convertibles to take visitors on a nearly half-mile, 12-minute ride through millions of years of history at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

The Ford Mustang was introduced to the media and public in April 1964 at the New York World’s Fair. But what you may not know is that the Walt Disney Company created the Ford Pavilion and the ride that showcased the cars. Officially under development since 1961, the Mustang was introduced through billboards, television specials, commercials, and in-person contact but the official unveiling took place in April 1964 at the Fair’s largest exhibit, the Ford Pavilion.

The Ford Pavilion, also known as the Wonder Rotunda, had Mustangs on display and visitors could ride in a Mustang convertible on display and as part of the Magic Skyway ride. This ride was designed by Walt Disney and his staff to be “a fantasyland of the past, present and future” depicting “millions of years of life on Earth.” The almost 15 million visitors who took the ride were thus able to inspect the Mustang’s interiors and familiarize themselves with its many available options and accessories while traveling through time.

The pavilion and ride took three years to build. Ford Galaxies, Lincoln Continentals and Fairlanes were all expected to be in the ride, but the surprise was the all-new 1964 FORD MAGIC SKYWAY RIDE MUSTANG.The location is known for four of the twelve original Magic Skyway Mustangs and our archives team worked to have one on display at the D23 Ultimate Fan Event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the World’s Fair. D23 is the Walt Disney Fan Club, and it holds biannual events to celebrate all things Disney with its fans. This year’s Ultimate Fan Event attracted more than 75,000 attendees over three days.

The 1964 FORD MAGIC SKYWAY RIDE MUSTANG on display was part of a larger Disney Archives exhibit focusing on cars in their collection that had been used in films. The “Great Big Beautiful Car Show” included more than 30 incredible automobiles displayed over 24,000 square feet for D23’s 75,000 attendees. While there were several other movie Fords from their collection, the Skyway Mustang was the literal center of attention. The Disney Archives exhibit team re-created the archway that was at the original 1964 World’s Fair.

I was part of a panel discussion titled “A Beautiful Tomorrow – Just a Dream Away: Disney at the 1964-‘65 World’s Fair.” The lineup was impressive. Legendary film critic Leonard Maltin was the moderator, with Disney archivist Becky Cline, “Monsters Inc.” director Pete Docter, Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald, “Tomorrowland” production designer Ramsey Avery, and special surprise guests: composer Michael Giacchino, director/actor Jon Favreau, and Marvel president Kevin Feige. I would have felt like the odd man out, but I was there to tell the amazing story of the role of the Mustang at the Fair, which evened the playing field.

For me, the panel discussion was easy — the World’s Fair and the Mustang introduction created the first chapter in the lore of the Mustang as the car for every generation. The styling was so perfect for that place and time that the car cemented the public’s imagination of what a sporty car should be, just as it has for each subsequent generation. The chatter in the Green Room backstage felt like many Mustang meets I’ve been to. Everyone had their Mustang story, and Leonard Maltin even spoke on stage about his regret in selling his 1968 Mustang!

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, the day after D23 ended we took the Skyway Mustang to Jay Leno’s Garage to film a segment on the car for a future video. The crew who filmed the episodes for Leno’s Garage are amazingly professional, and after 1,100 episodes, know exactly how to make the car look beautiful and bring the story to life. This one was a bit different, as the main connection to the Fair was showing the weld marks on the undercarriage of the car! That was a bit tricky to capture on camera.

Jay was as nice as you would expect and had personal memories of the Ford Pavilion and dragging his father there to ride the ride and see the new Mustang. Our segment talking about the car was easy. We took the car for a spin to film it in action. The crew had attached GoPro cameras on the windshield to film us and we followed a customized Ford Expedition that Jay has outfitted with cameras to get the wide-angle shots of the drive. I can’t tell you how many people honked and waved at Jay as we drove the Mustang, but I was not surprised, because two icons together attract attention.

There are few cars in the world that would generate the type of reaction the Mustang did in 1964, and I was struck by the fact that as we celebrate the 60th anniversary, the Mustang is still the sporty car for the newest generation. It was an honor to work with the Archives team at the Walt Disney Company to celebrate this car with all their fans.

Feeling nostalgic? Take a stroll down memory lane at the World’s Fair Magic Skyway: https://youtu.be/12EEFoqUrlE

This film takes a close look at Ford’s pavilion at the 1965 New York World’s Fair. Visitors are treated to a look at Ford vehicles through the ages, starting with the Quadricycle and ending with experimental futuristic prototypes such as the Aurora, Allegro and Cougar. All the current models are on show including the recently launched Mustang. The highlight however is the Magic Skyway, a Disney creation in which visitors sit in cars being pulled along a track or “turnpike of tomorrow”. They slowly move past a variety of dioramas populated by Disney “audio animatronics” depicting such scenes as battling dinosaurs and Stone Age families.

To learn more about the first Mustang – 1964 FORD MAGIC SKYWAY RIDE MUSTANG – please visit https://over-drive-magazine.com/2022/09/15/1964-ford-mustang-fact-sheet/

In 1964 at the New York World’s Fair, there was one car that caught Joe Amabile’s eye: A ‘65 Ford Mustang 2 2 Fastback GT, displayed on a rotating platform at Ford’s Magic Skyway ride. Decades later, he owns this ’65 MUSTANG GT: RANGOON RED & RESTORED.

“I waited in line for three hours to ride in the newly introduced Mustang,” Amabile, said. “They had a red ‘65 GT up on display, Rangoon Red, and it just stuck in my mind.”

Over time, Amabile went searching for a Mustang, but it had to be a fastback model with a V-8 and four-speed transmission. He wasn’t in the automotive business, but he had always wanted to restore a Mustang.

Through research, the Amabiles found a Mustang GT that checked all boxes in 1992. Located in New York, about 90 miles south of their home town of Woodbury CT, the Amabile family discovered the car had not only the owner’s daily driver, it was inoperable due to the owner attempting a full restoration.With the engine and transmission uncoupled, Joe Amabile purchased the GT for $1,200, loading the engine in the back of his truck while loading the transmission in the trunk of the Mustang, and left for Woodbury to open his shop. The Mustang family project was impacted by busy work schedules as well as Joe having to fine-tune parts and components twice to ensure a quality fit. He ended up nicknaming the Mustang Two-Time Sally, because few parts seemed to work the first time around!

“If you ordered a part and it wasn’t the original part, I always had to tweak it and take it on and off,” Joe Amabile said. “I either had to bend it, cut it, drill it, hammer it, or do something with it, and then put it back on. It was always at least two times on everything.”

Now restored, the Mustang GT continues its journey to car shows far and wide, winning countless awards locally, statewide, and nationally. The first time out at the Watertown, CT Lions Club Show, the Amabiles took a First in the Mustang Class. “I didn’t restore the Mustang to be a Concours show car, I just wanted to display a fully restored classic that was as factory original as possible.”

One memorable car show Joe and his wife Pam attended in 2014 was the Klingberg Motorcar Series car show featuring over 1,000 cars, in New Britain, CT. “John Juliani, the CEO of the Eastern States Exposition in MA, asked if we would enter the GT in his Collector Car Exhibition, an event showcasing historic cars over the years.”

“It wasn’t a contest, but rather an exhibition. Featured were car TV personalities Wayne Carini from Chasing Classic Cars, Mike Brewer from Wheeler Dealers, Danny “The Count” from Counting Cars. The mass recognition of our Mustang was truly heartwarming.”

From every angle, this ’65 MUSTANG GT: RANGOON RED & RESTORED appears as brand new. Among its eye-grabbing details are, rocker panel GT stripes, fog lights, exhaust trumpets, TASCA FORD badge, and styled steel wheels. The fender-mounted GT and 289 engine badges add status. Its interior has been restored to a high-degree of quality and the dashboard is sporty and boasts easy-to-read instrumentation.

The A-Code 289 engine’s original gold-toned air cleaner and valve covers were upgraded to the factory optional Appearance Package featuring a chrome air cleaner and valve covers. The hydraulic-lifter, four-barrel 289 small-block V-8 in the Amabiles’ GT was rated at 225 horsepower at 4,400 rpm, and 305 pound-feet at 3200 rpm.

The Mustang 2 2 is the kind of car that attracts traditional car enthusiasts to admire with great interest, and a provoker of endless arguments over whether it is the greatest Ponycar ever built. For people like the Amabiles, few cars measure up to their Rangoon Red GT that is showcased in Mustang Special Editions, by Jeffery Klein and Jonathan Klein. A copy has been on the coffee-table in the Amabile home since it was published in 2018!

Words & Photos: Dan Fisher