From the first photo I saw of it, I knew that the 1980 Mustang Ghia that we refer to as the Great Pumpkin Mustang was…how to say this nicely?…unique. I’ve seen just about every option that this particular car has on other Mustangs, but not all together at once. For example, I’ve seen other Mustangs painted 5T Bright Caramel. I’ve seen other Fox-era Mustang Ghias with the vinyl top that looks like a trial run for the return of the convertible. But I hadn’t seen them together, and I certainly hadn’t seen a matching Caramel-colored interior, either. Initially, I didn’t like it. But over the years, it’s grown on me quite a bit. It’s not to perfection, for sure. For starters, I have no idea of anyone is willing to restore the roof treatment. I certainly haven’t had luck there. But it’s in the research for my wife’s car that I’ve been finding the same setup over…and over…and over again.
When it was purchased new, Haley’s pony would be perfectly identical to the car in this period advertisement: orange body, white top, wire hubcaps on steel wheels, blackout mask paint on the nose and door window area, 4.2 liters of disappointment underhood hooked to a C4 automatic and the weakest rear gear setup that would allow the car to still accelerate. But then I come across this commercial, which appears to have the same identical car, just with the dowdy rolling stock replaced by the TRX wheels that looked a thousand times better.
Someone at Ford was very proud of this combination. There were a few identical cars like it made, per the Marti report that I ordered…and have somewhere in the office. And it’s that uniqueness that she wants to preserve. Me, personally? I’m thinking something more like…
I hate to say it but…
The Ghia Mustang, was the donor car, or 4cyl short track car of choice, on the 90s and early 2000s. Which is why a good clean example, will be hard to find. And, more than likely, will become the darling, of the “Barrett Jackson”, in the next 15 to 20 years.
My guess is it’s just what they happened to set aside as a dedicated photo shoot car that got re-used for a lot of marketing material. Might have even been a pre-production model they didn’t want to sell.
As for why they made that the photo shoot car, maybe somebody in their advertising department liked Orange Dreamsicles?