Production Ends at Historic Dearborn Assembly

40-years ago the Ford Mustang made its debut at the New York World's Fair on April 17, 1964. On Monday May 10th a red GT Mustang Convertible will be the last one built at the Dearborn Assembly Plant in Michigan and be driven off the line by long time employee Fred Galicki (Ga-lick-ee).....

DEARBORN, MI May 7, 2004 - 40-years ago the Ford Mustang made its debut at the New York World's Fair on April 17, 1964. On Monday May 10th a red GT Mustang Convertible will be the last one built at the Dearborn Assembly Plant in Michigan and be driven off the line by long time employee Fred Galicki (Ga-lick-ee).

Galicki has been working in the fit and finish area for the past six years and says management had some 2000 workers to pick from and they offered him the chance to drive the last vehicle off the line.

Galicki has been with Ford Motor Company for 31 years and has been making Mustangs since 1983. He had a 1970 and a 1986, which he says he wishes he still had. Once he drives the final Mustang off the line, he'll start making F-150 Trucks at Ford's new 21st century Dearborn Truck Plant. Workers at the original Mustang plant who will be going to the new truck plant say it's like going from the "Flintstones to the Jetsons."

79 year old Oscar Horespian (Hahf-sep-ee-an) was one of the first Mustang workers to drive, what eventually became and American Icon, off the line in 1964 and says he remembers it, "like it was yesterday."

Horespian said he never expected the Mustang to last all these years, but did say, he's not surprised.

Horespian held a number of positions during his 37-years at Ford, but from 1965 to 1980 when he retired, he was part of history, building Mustangs five and six days a week.

Both Oscar Horespian and Fred Galicki will be sitting in the final Mustang when it's driven off the line, representing the beginning and the ending of an era that saw over 6-million Mustangs made at the Dearborn Assembly Plant.

Diehard Mustang club members will continue spreading the enthusiasm on a 60-city "Pony Drive" throughout the spring and summer. Mustang's historic year will come full circle this fall as Ford launches the all-new 2005 model as part of an unprecedented wave of new products.