Ford Mustang celebrates 50 years

The Ford Motor Company will celebrate the 50th anniversary for one of its most famous cars in grand style on April 16, 2014, displaying a Ford Mustang Convertible at the top of the Empire State Building in New York City.

The idea was first set in motion 50 years ago in 1964 when two American icons joined forces, the Ford Mustang and Empire State Building.

For the global launch of the Mustang in '64, a prototype convertible was chopped into three sections along with the windshield and sent up the Empire State building's 86 floors via elevator, because no crane existed that was tall enough and no helicopter could be precise enough.

The same problem exists today, so once again Ford will be slicing and dicing the brand-new 2015 model year Mustang into sections, then loading them into custom-made racks and sending them up 443 metres.

Engineers will then have less than six hours to assemble the vehicle - expected to be a very special model - which will be on display on the 86th storey observation deck of the famous New York City landmark.

FoMoCo says the decision was made to repeat the audacious feat to 'once again' make history.

"New York is one of the greatest cities in the world, and it’s the place where the Ford Mustang story began 50 years ago," said Mark Fields, Ford chief operating officer.

"We’re thrilled to be visiting the architectural landmark that has been the heart of the Manhattan skyline for 83 years with the newest generation of the car that is the soul of Ford Motor Company," he said.

The car will be on display for 54 hours between April 16 and 17 to coincide with the New York motor show, and visitors heading up to the Empire State Building observation deck can check it out.

The 2015 Ford Mustang will ride on an all-new platform, powered by new engines, including turbocharged four-cylinder, V6 and V8. Although when the car arrives in Australia in 2015, it will only be offered with the turbo four-cylinder and V8 engines and not the V6.

The 2.3-litre four-cylinder GTDI EcoBoost engine belts out more than 227kW at 5500rpm, with more than 407Nm at 2000rpm.

Ford's 5.0-litre V8 is a serious tyre-shredding unit, pumping out more than 313kW at a high-revving 6500rpm, with maximum torque of 529Nm arriving at 4250rpm.

No performance figures have been revealed for the new 'Stangs, but expect them to be rapid off the line.