Mustang Monday: 50th Anniversary at the Petersen

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Mustang, we’ll be celebrating all year long by bringing you Mustangs each Monday!To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mustang the Petersen has gathered together some rare and fun Mustangs to share through their exhibit Mustangs Forever: 50 Years of a Legend.The exhibit does a wonderful job of displaying this classic's development over time, showcasing fine specimens from each generation.A complete rendering of every available Mustang paint color graces one of the long walls in this exhibit.  Impressively, the color spectrum even includes rare and special order colors that were made available to customers, no matter how limited the release."This 1968 California Special, conceived by District Manager Lee Grey is one of only 4100 made.It used a GT-500 body kit, and other special select state models were made, such as the 'Dixie Special' for Mississippi and 'High Country Special' for Colorado.This GT/CS is very special because it is fitted with a 390 CI big block and a 4 speed transmission, making it only one of 111 made like this, while most had a 289 CI small block.Now owned by Galpin Ford, this 1965 Shelby GT-350 was garaged in 1970 and stored for 40 years!Simple fixes were done to make it road worthy, and it was recently driven 300 miles from LA to Pebble Beach to show at the Quail Lodge Motorsports Gathering.The KR in this 1968 Shelby GT500KR stands for "King of the Road" which features a 428 Cobra Jet with Ram Air induction.This car was originally sold by Galpin Ford and was bought back by them 10 years ago.Aside from the fabulous pony cars on display, the exhibit also has some fine examples of original Mustang advertising, including this wall filled with slogans and a looping reel of classic Mustang TV ads.As always, the Petersen does a fine job of celebrating the Mustang's 50th birthday.  If you're anywhere near the L.A. area and can carve out a few hours to make the trip, visiting this museum is absolutely worth it!