Red Tails Mustang auctioned at AirVenture
July 31, 2012, 04:44 pm
Ford made a one-of-a kind Red Tails edition 2013 Mustang for the Experimental Aviation Administrations AirVenture. The vehicle sold for $370,000 at the Gathering of Eagles charity auction at the recent event.
The proceeds of the EAA Young Eagles, which has given introductory flight training to more than 1.6 million young people since 1992, go toward helping inspire fans of aviation. The auction raised nearly $3 million for the Young Eagles.
The Red Tail Ford Mustang is one of four special edition cars that were made in the past for the Young Eagles. Ford vehicles sold at the event this year collectively accounted for more than $2 million to support the Young Eagles. Other unique cars made by Ford for the even include the Mustang AV8R in 2008. That model sold for the record auction price of $500,000. Ford's AV-X10 Mustang was sold at the auction in 2009 in honor of World War II aircraft. In 2010 Ford featured the SR-71 Blackbird Mustang in honor of Carroll Shelby, an Air Force flight instructor and Jack Roush, a P-51 pilot. Last year, the automaker featured the Ford Blue Angels Mustang.
“The perseverance and excellence displayed by the Tuskegee Airmen are qualities we also celebrate at Ford,” said Edsel Ford, a member of Ford’s board of directors. “With this year’s beautiful ‘Red Tails’ Mustang, we’ve captured the recognizable symbols in honor of their important role in our history, and paired it with the innovation our Ford design and engineering teams build into all of our products. Through this project, we take great pride in continuing our support for EAA and the Young Eagles organization.”
The Red Tail edition vehicle is based on the 5.0 liter Mustang GT and received a paint job with a red tail and school bus yellow accents. The car's seats are embroidered with the Red Tail logo and its floor mats are embroidered with the 332nd Fighter Group logo. The car is not a standard Mustang GT. It receives 624 horsepower and has a 2.3-liter twin screw Whipple supercharger, Ford Racing handling kit, unique side performance quad exhaust, Forgiato wheels and GT500 Brembo brakes and diffuser.
The Young Eagles Auction was held at the EAA AirVenture Museum. The event attracts more than 1,000 aviation fans in support of the Young Eagles each year and looks to inspire young fans to become engineers, astronauts, scientists, innovators and aviation pilots.
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