DEARBORN, Mich. - When we received an email from Tim Worlitz of Dallas Mustang about a regular customer who comes into his shop for routine maintenance on a pristine 1966 Mustang Fastback, we figured it was owned by a savvy collector. But when Tim told us the car was the daily driver of Adele Acrey who has been in love with this pretty pony ever since she bought it new, we had to hear more. Read Adele’s incredible Mustang story below and you’ll see why we’re so proud to shine our Fan Spotlight on her and her still-beautiful, one-owner, rust-free classic Mustang:

“Graduating from Austin College in, Sherman, Texas, back in 1959, Adele Acrey went to work as a church secretary. But she was looking for some independence and started saving up for a new car. Six years later, she bought her first car from the Horn-Williams Ford dealership in Dallas – a 1966 Ford Mustang! Why a Mustang? ‘It was the most artistically designed car on the market,’ says Adele. And . . . ‘my father was a Chevy man!’

“She was on a tight budget and attempted to order her car sans A/C, whitewall tires, radio, and tinted glass. It was a tall order for a car where these options are almost mandatory for survival in the hot Texas summer heat. Two months later, the dealer gave up on the search, but Adele did not give up on her dream. She bought the least-expensive car on the lot which was a ‘beautiful yellow fastback with black interior, a 6-cylinder engine, and a 3-speed manual transmission’ which today at age 81 she still drives daily. And the options that came on the car? This car actually had all the options she tried to delete form an order to try and keep the cost down!

“Adele paid ‘one dollar for every pound the car weighed,’ or about $2,600, as her memory serves. This is the only car Adele has driven for the past 53 years, and she still loves it as much today as she did when she drove off the dealer lot in late 1965. How does she feel about her Mustang? ‘YEOWWW’ is how Adele describes it, and she has had this feeling displayed proudly on her car from the first time that Texas started offering personal plates in 1966.

“Adele went on to obtain her Master’s Degree from Union Presbyterian Seminary Presbytery School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia. When there, she had a chance to intern in the African Congo and to make several trips back to Texas during her schooling days in Virginia. ‘I would pile friends in the Mustang for the trip back to Texas, with our luggage tied to the roof. In those days, it cost a car full of four people just $8 each to make the trip.’ She also had a chance to bring home three large pipes from the school’s dismantled pipe organ. When her father saw her come home with the organ pipes strapped onto the roof of her Mustang, he came up with an ongoing joke that claimed wind rushing through the organ pipes on her Mustang’s roof played ‘The Eyes of Texas’ when she crossed into the Lone Star State.

“Adele takes her prized possession to Dallas Mustang to keep her car in road ready shape, It has had a recent clutch replacement, transmission rebuild, wiring repair, new brakes, and some upholstery repair. She was happy to have ‘finally had the driver’s seat fixed’ with a new frame, foam, and vinyl, erasing years of wear from working the clutch pedal during her frequent trips around town. Adele is truly the epitome of a lifelong Mustang owner, and says she would not even think of driving anything else!”

How YOU can Get In The Spotlight: For several years now, one of the most popular features on FordPerformance.com and in our Fast News e-newsletter continues to be "Ford Fan Spotlight," where readers can send in their own reasons why they're fans of Ford Motor Company. You know who they are: Ford "superfans;" grassroots Ford racers; unique Ford vehicle owners; loyal Ford enthusiasts; notable Ford club people; special Ford families; and/or any avid supporter of Ford, Ford vehicles, Ford motorsports or Ford Performance who deserves a little bit of special recognition.

All you need to do to get you, your car or candidate considered is to send in a brief description (200-500 words or less) and a few photos (in .jpeg format, preferably 300 dpi) of a person (full name and hometown, please) and vehicle that you think Ford Performance should feature (and why) in the "Ford Fan Spotlight" for an upcoming installment of Fast News and posting on FordPerformance.com. Then email it to: ClubHub@Ford.com. Should you wish to send a video, you simply need to post it on www.YouTube.com (preferably 1-2 minutes long) and send in the link, along with a brief description, to that same ClubHub@Ford.com email address. We'll choose one submission each week.