Ford Closes Mustang’s Birthplace

Ford Motor Co.’s oldest manufacturing plant, built under the guidance of founder Henry Ford and later the birthplace of the iconic Mustang, made its final car Monday.

The last vehicle -- a crimson red Mustang GT convertible -- rolled off the line at the Dearborn Assembly Plant. Since the Mustang’s introduction in 1964, Ford has built roughly 6.7 million of the muscle cars in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb and home to Ford’s world headquarters.

Hundreds of employees and retirees cheered and hugged as they watched the final car roll off the line. The Wilson Pickett hit “Mustang Sally” blared over a loudspeaker.

“The Mustang has been with us for so long,” said Rosa Smith of Southfield, a 26-year Ford employee. “It is the car, the toy for the older generation and the sports car for the younger folks.”

Sitting next to the assembly line was a cream-colored 1964 Mustang, the first one to come off the line 40 years ago.

With the shuttering of the 86-year-old plant, Ford is moving production of the next-generation Mustang to a factory in Flat Rock, southwest of Detroit. The new 2005 Mustang is scheduled to arrive in showrooms this fall.

Eventually, most of Dearborn Assembly’s 2,000 workers will move nearby to the new Dearborn Truck Plant, where Ford has started limited production of its best-selling F-150 pickup.