Royal Oak Man Pays Just $1k for Custom Mustang Owned by Henry Ford's Son

When Royal Oak resident and Ford Motor Company retiree Art Cairo met with Henry Ford II’s son, Edsel Ford II, to have the car authenticated in 1981, he was in for a surprise.

In talking with Edsel, Cairo discovered that his car once belonged to Edsel’s brother, Henry Ford II, The Daily Tribune reports.

“It was just a rusted Michigan Mustang and I was glad to get it for what I did in 1974,” Cairo said. “There are a lot of people now who say it is a million-dollar Mustang and a lot of collectors would want it.”

The Mustang includes features that weren’t included in Mustang production models, such as a K coat engine, a 289 V-8, a teak wood steering wheel and leather seats.

Cairo says that in the early 60s, Ford was still getting over the failure of the Edsel model, a car that performed horribly in terms of sales.

Lee Iacocca, engineer of the Mustang, wanted to introduce the Mustang but Henry Ford II – also known as Henry Ford, The Deuce – wasn’t open to the idea initially.

“I think Iacocca decided to build something special for The Deuce, and he knew his cars to be black and have leather seats,” Cairo said.

Since buying the Mustang, Cairo has made some changes.

“I took every nut and bolt off this vehicle and replaced anything that needed to be replaced with genuine stock parts,” he said.

Although the car is road ready, Cairo doesn’t drive the car anymore.

“I created a museum piece,” he said. “I shouldn’t be driving it now. Any time it goes anywhere now it goes in a trailer.”

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Photo: Art Cairo met Edsel Ford II, left, in 1981 to get his 1964 Ford Mustang authenticated, and learned the classic car had been owned by Henry Ford II. He is pictured with William “Bill” Clay Ford Jr., the executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. The two men are great-grandsons of Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford. (Patch file photo)