Is there any real value in that though? If so, have I got a controversy about an Abbott & Hast Ford I'd like to share with everyone!!! :angel:
Please do tell!
Tim, you didn't know??? There's some controversy over whether my car is a 1969 Ford or a top secret government vehicle.
Truth is, the car was the 1947 government experimental recovery vehicle that the alien bodies were transported from Roswell, NM to the White House, so President Truman could personally inspect the bodies. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the aliens were in fact still alive, so Truman drove them around Washington DC to see the historic landmarks.
Shortly after, and so the government wouldn't look like they were involved in any automotive research and design, they hid the car at Area 51. In 1968, the US military delivered it to Henry Ford the second (the then CEO of FoMoCo) and said, "make a station wagon to look just like this." So it's really a 1947 car, but the matching number VIN plates and chassis stamps all say 1969.
A year later in 1969, Ford took the car to Abbott & Hast to have the car converted into a funeral coach. The idea was that if it's sitting in the basement of a funeral home, people may not find it as easily, since rumor of the "alien wagon" started to surface. Coincidently, President Eisenhower died the same year the car was converted, and given its Presidential history, it was decided by NASA that the coach should be used prior to the funeral to move the body to the mortuary.
After this, the history is pretty straight forward. The car was used at the funeral home in California, until just a few years ago, right before I acquired it.
Thankfully, I have every bit of documentation to prove this. If you'd like a copy, just give me enough time to install Photoshop and hook up my printer.
P.S. Yes, my car is currently for sale. Given it's history, the asking price is a very reasonable $2M.
All kidding aside, Barrett Jackson is going to push this car, and get the most money they can. The question is what impact will it have on our hobby?
