Illinois woman bought the first ever Ford Mustang sold in the US and still owns it over 60 years later despite being able to sell it for huge amount

There’s a woman in Illinois who still drives the 1964 Ford Mustang she bought now back in the 1960s.

The car didn’t have an easy life, but it looks fantastic now.

More importantly, the owner is absolutely refusing to sell it even though this pony car is worth a fortune in 2026.

And it’s worth a fortune because of an incredible coincidence.

Luckily, some people actually do drive their cars

Maybe it’s because inflation is worse than ever, or maybe it’s because some modern cars feel dull, but buying cars to collect them and not drive them is a global sport at the moment.

Not a week goes by without a new auction listing for a car that’s driven close to zero miles despite being 30 years old.

Fortunately, some people still drive their cars.

Mate Rimac, founder of Rimac and now CEO of Bugatti-Rimac, regularly drives all of his cars – including his Rimac Nevera and his Bugatti Chiron – and he urges other supercar collectors to do the same.

Jay Leno also famously drives all of his cars, including the McLaren F1 that’s now worth $20 million.

And now we have a new hero.

Her name is Gail Wise.

Gail is the owner of an incredibly rare and special Ford Mustang that she drives practically every day.

She doesn’t want to sell it, which is admirable because, for a very specific reason, this Mustang is super rare.

The reason why Wise’s Mustang is worth a lot of cash today

Gail Wise, a Park Ridge, Illinois resident, accidentally became the very first person in the United States to buy a Ford Mustang.

This wasn’t the first Mustang that left the factory, but it ended up becoming the protagonist of the first recorded sale.

She bought it new in 1964 for $3,447 – equivalent to $35,000 in today’s money – and used it every day to go to her place of work, a school in Illinois.

Today, 62 years later, Wise is still driving her car pretty much every day.

Naturally, she’s been given multiple opportunities to sell it over the years.

As the ‘first sold’ Mustang in the US, the car is easily worth up to half a million dollars today.

But her answer is always a firm no.

She just wants to drive her Mustang.

So kudos to her.

Gail very nearly scrapped her Ford Mustang

At some point in the late 1970s, the Mustang broke down due to a frozen carburetor linkage.

Amazingly, it was Gail’s husband, Tom, who saved the car.

Gail wanted to scrap it, but her husband refused to do it and just parked it in a garage.

The idea was to restore it after retiring, but we all know how these things go.

One thing led to another, and that’s how a few weeks became a few months and then a few decades.

The Mustang ended up sitting under a pile of junk for 27 years.

Finally, in 2005, Tom began a meticulous restoration, and a few years later, the Mustang hit the road again.

Gail hasn’t stopped driving it since.