Seeing these shots of a ’72 Mustang in Budapest that roshake 77 posted reminds me of how I helped facilitate a German visiting Baltimore in the winter of 1970 to buy a Mustang from the Ford dealer I worked at.
A German choir was traveling in the US, performing mostly at churches, including Immaculate Conception in Towson. Since my parents spoke German, the leader was put in touch with my parents by the pastor, and he and his wife were invited for dinner. I was in high school at the time, working after school for Towson Ford as a car jockey, just a few months before I split.
When I mentioned that at dinner, the choir director’s eyes lit up. Can you help me buy a Mustang? They’re so much cheaper here than the ones officially imported by Ford.
Sure, I guess. But you’ll have to make some modifications to it when it arrives in Germany.
We arranged to meet the General Manager (referred to as “Slick” or “Onion head” by the Black staff on account of his bald pate) the next afternoon. When the GM asked how he was going to pay for it, the choir director pointed to his briefcase: I have the cash here.
Undoubtedly it was the proceeds from their performances at the many churches, where a collection was always taken up for them. It had been a successful tour.
The choir director picked out a base silver coupe from the lot, and the transaction was completed. I rode back to our house in it, and he thanked me. But no commission from either him or the General Manager.
I don’t know how or when this ’72 convertible found its way to Europe, but I do know how one silver coupe did so.
The 71-73s get a lot of deserved flack for bloat and other questionable styling choices but in convertible form I think they look superb, and I normally don’t even like the looks of convertible Mustangs.
Agreed, mostly.
Was thinking the same, the loss of visual mass makes a huge difference.
Not quite a Mustang, but almost, Diana Rigg drove a ’69 Cougar convertible in Europe in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”
They were sold as T5 in Germany.
Paul your story is much more compelling than I found the 71 and later Mustangs back in the 70’s. However the convertible is rather attractive to me now. Nice cars. Thoroughly enjoyed your story. The memories of that have long outlasted any commissions you may have earned. One wonders how long an unscrupulous choir director may have enjoyed his Mustang. 😂
This body looked SO much better as a convertible, top up or top down, than it did in the hardtop body.
Ca. 1966 National Geographic did a cover story on Hungary. There was a photo of a Hungarian rock group posing with a Mustang. I don’t know how it got into Hungary.
April 1971. See here.
Yep, that’s the photo I was thinking of.
A Mustang finding its way into Hungary during Communism would have been owned by some high ranking functionary, the proletariat had to settle for the usual Commecon suspects like Ladas, Trabants, Skodas and similar. Most US made cars you see in Hungary nowadays are later imports.
Strange as it may seem, but plenty of US cars found their way to Hungary during the Cold War, many of them serving some kind of official duty. I encourage you to take a look at Fortepan, a Hungarian site that houses a large collection of pictures taken between 1900-1990. You can really get lost there looking up old cityscape photos.
https://fortepan.hu/en/photos/?q=american%20brand
On the other hand, I’m pretty sure this Mustang is somewhat of a “recent” import.
For large periods Hungary had a bit of autonomy within the USSR. I imagine for would have made western imports easier for some near the top
Purchased a ‘73 convertible new…6 cylinder, 3-speed on the floor, due to the “gas crisis” at the time. It was a nice enough car to drive, but the trunk always leaked (dealer could never remedy) and it started to rust badly within 3 years. I was told the dealer-applied rustproofing was done improperly so my “lifetime” warranty was no longer valid…although they did refund what I paid for the rustproofing ($169.00). The experience soured me on Ford products and dealers for many, many years.
Too bad, that was a good looking car.
Yep, I thought so! Only problem was my girlfriend (and future wife) didn’t like green, which I didn’t know when I ordered it!
These look so much better than the recent models. This generation of Mustangs got a lot of hate for being ‘too big and heavy’, yet the newish ones are even bigger and heavier.
Big, heavy as well as “don’t look like traditional Mustangs” which the newer ones don’t either other than the taillights. Funny thing is people often suggest these may as well be Torino’s between the girth and styling, but it’s very analogous with today’s model whose styling largely derived from the midsize 2013 Fusion. Another parallel is for many fans of the 71-73s the enduring legacy is probably that many were a vessel for the excellent 351 Clevelend engine, similarly today it’s the excellent powertrains(ecoboost, Coyote) that prop up the current generation’s image.