Ford Mustang to celebrate 50th birthday atop Empire State Building

The 2015 Ford Mustang Convertible will be displayed on the observation deck of the famous New York attraction next month, just as a prototype of the original convertible was presented in 1965.

As no portable cranes can reach the 86^th floor of the 443-metre tower, the Mustang convertible will need to be partially disassembled, loaded into the building’s elevators, and put back together at the top, as Ford’s team did with the prototype 49 years ago.

Today’s team will use computer engineering data to make precise cuts in the 2015 Mustang convertible – which measures nearly 18cm longer and 10cm wider than its ancestor – allowing each piece to fit inside the elevator.

Ford says its technicians will have less than six hours to reassemble the sections into a complete car for the display at the top of the Manhattan icon.

The new Mustang Convertible will be displayed on the Empire State Building’s observation deck on April 16 and 17, coinciding with Ford’s global celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the debut of the original Mustang at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.

Ford is also set to launch a 50^th Anniversary Edition of the Mustang with distinctive styling cues inspired by fastbacks of the past, as spotted by our spy photographers overnight.

The new-generation Ford Mustang convertible made its international debut in Sydney in December. Ford will reintroduce the famous sports car to Australia in 2015, approximately 12 months after it hits US showrooms towards the end of this year.