by Wallace Wyss
Of course there were a few Mustangs bodied in Italy. Shelby himself sent a couple Shelbys to Italy for Zagato to do, but mostly their contribution was in the roof style. Then Bertone did one designed by Giugiaro, that car supposedly stolen and it’s never been seen since.
But this particular one was the brainchild of Barney Clark, a legendary ad man and two partners, Robert Cumberford, a young automotive designer; and a car enthusiast named Jim Licata shipped a Mustang coupe with a 289. They chose a Mustang notchback to send over to Frank Reisner’s Construzione Automobili Intermeccanica in Turin, Italy, in March 1965.
It took Reisner almost a year to finish it. Basically what was added was a station wagon roof, a bottom-hinged tailgate, fully retractable rear windows, a relocated fuel filler, folding rear seats, and split taillights.
Mustang Station Wagon
One wonders why Clark did it. I think it’s because he worked for Ford’s ad agency, J. Walter Thompson. I suspect it was to get more notoriety, I mean advertising copywriting is a tough game but if you’re thought of as an innovator, you might get the plumb assignments. (that was my reasoning when I wrote Chevy ads and drove a Mercedes Gullwing to work).
Reportedly Robert Cumberford, the ex GM designer, was in on the design for the conversion of the car, the partners hoping to go into production of them if Ford didn’t buy it outright. It could have been mass produced if Ford had wanted to compromise the Mustang’s pony car image. But Ford was not in the habit of going to outside design firms for suggestions on how to design their next car.
Ford did make some clay models of Mustang wagons, which you see in various Mustang histories, so they had that arrow in their quiver, so to speak but never drew it out.
And, truth be told, the American public was almost totally unfamiliar with the idea of a “shooting brake” as in the Aston Martin shooting brake. Here’s where the “shooting” comes from. Originally when those Astons were built it was supposedly so m’Lord could drive down the long driveway at his estate and get to where the grouse were and blow their little heads off with his matched set of Purdeys. And m’Lord, being a busy chap, had to get there fast, hence the Aston.
Now as far as “brake” I know enough about horses to know if you have one that’s too damn rambunctious, one way to take the piss and vinegar out of him is hitch him to a heavy wagon and have him pull that around for awhile. Hence the combining of “shooting” and “brake.”
One reason this car has come into my sights again is that I am completing my fourth Incredible Barn Finds book for Enthusiast Books and have a space saved for coverage of this barn-find-waiting-to-be-found but need to know:
a.) What Barney sold it for or,
b.) What any subsequent owner advertised it for, maybe in Road & Track. I think if it went the first time for under $10,000 it was a bargain indeed as it would, if restored, sell for something like $250,000 today.
Of course there is the problem of replicas having been made and determining which one is the real one, but maybe Paula Reisner, the wife of the late builder, would probably confirm clues that separate the real one from the fakesters.
Look closely at that rear view picture. An orange New York plate. So someone was driving it as a daily driver, and I’m sure that many that saw go by it figured, hey, it’s just Joe Blow’s Kustom (though when Clark drove it in Detroit, it caused a sensation because people thought it was a prototype…)
Methinks it’s still out there. I live in hope. Any clues to its one-time selling price can be sent to me by email – click here
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is a fine artist and writer based in Southern California. Some of his art can be seen on Facebook – click here.
Long time ago I have seen this Mustang Station by a Ford dealer into Amsterdam.
From what I know it was later sold on a guy into a small town near Amsterdam , Hoofddorp.
Also I read somewhere that a US company make’s kits for convert a coupe to a pick up.
last year I see one for sale into the US
Simon
I wrote about a different early Mustang station wagon back in June 2011 in Automotive Traveler and mentioned this car in a sidebar to the story.
Here’s a link to the feature.
http://automotivetraveler.com/magazine/viewer.php?path=2011/06/1965_Ford_Mustang_Station_Wagon&page=1
Another early Mustang station wagon has appeared over the years at the annual Fabulous Fords Forever show at Knott’s Berry Farm. Like the one I featured above, it’s very well done and as I recall the last time I saw it, it was for sale. I’ll see if I can find a photo.
There is one in Phoenix that has been to many shows over the years, including the 50th Anniversary in Las Vegas in 2014
Correct, Simon. I saw the car several times with Joop Blom, a Ford executive from Amstelveen who passed away in the early 90-ies. I have a detailed memory of how the tailgate was constructed, that was a VERY professional job and was finished very nice – no hack job. I had pictures of it but they burned with my company. The car got sold and it since disappeared.
My grandfather owned one in 1968, a V8. He lived in Haarlem at the time. Bought it from the director of Ford import Holland. I have only one picture. Not from the back, but I remember that you could roll down the rearwindow from the out-side. I remember the car well and it made a big impression in me, I was 13 years old. He sold the car after a few years. I don’t know to whom. Would like to buy it myself now ☺️
Wallace, you may want to note the source of the last photo in your article:
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/03/30/intermeccanica-mustang-station-wagon-spotted-in-the-new-jersey-suburbs/
Link no longer works.
Yes, indeed that and many other shots were in Hemmings, a more complete set than I have ever seen. It seems like in the age oc computers we ought to be able to trace the plates but maybe those registrations made before computer memory weren’t entered into the State’s computer memory bank once everything was done by computer.
Just seen one in Hastings, England. Never knew what it was, came searching for info and found this blog.
Took some terrible long distance photos if anyone is interested.
Alexander,
Yes, please share a photo with us.
I went for many rides in that car when I was a kid! My uncle, Jim Licata, was involved in that project. That picture was taken in front of his house in NJ. He searched high and low for that car until he passed away a few years ago. I have a few pictures of it in my driveway too. British Racing Green…It looked and sounded super cool! Also, he raced a ’61 Alfa Romeo Giulietta in the SCCA E-Production Class for years. That Galaxy Wagon in the driveway was his tow vehicle. (I’m sure the Alfa was in the garage) I wouldn’t mind finding that Mustang myself!