In 1964 when Ford introduced the Mustang, the new car not only conqueredAmerica, it also mesmerized the buying public across the world. However,in Germany, Ford ran into a snag when it learned that a pair of Germancompanies already held the copyright to the Mustang name. To Germans, aMustang was either a truck or a small motorbike.
Eyeing the lucrativeGerman market, especially with so many American soldiers stationedthere, Ford swerved around the copyright issue by giving theGermany-bound Mustangs a new name, calling it simply "T-5," which wasthe Ford code-word for the Mustang during its development. The seeminglysimple fix for the problem led to the production of some very uniquecomponents. Because the Mustang name couldn't appear anywhere on thecar, Ford tooled up gas caps and steering-wheel horn buttons with theembossed "Ford," but not "Mustang" like the American versions. Fendershad to be punched for installation of the special "T-5" emblems. Evenowner's manuals had to be printed without the Mustang name. Most camewith kilometer-per-hour speedometers instead of miles-per-hour, andsuspension upgrades--like the stiffer "export brace" in place of thetypical flimsy shock-tower-to-cowl braces--were added to accommodate therough European roads.
Alan Anderson, from Richland, Washington, foundhis Wimbledon White T-5 fastback in Minville, Oregon, back in 1999. Theprevious owner, after realizing he had a rare T-5, had started aframe-up restoration, which was completed by Alan. Powered by a C-code289 2V engine with a four-speed, the car is equipped with a black Ponyinterior, an AM radio, and all the T-5 oddities. Alan added the StyledSteel wheels, GT fog lights and exhaust trumpets, an engine dress-upkit, and gas shocks.