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Ford Celebrates Mustang's 50th Anniversary From Top Of Empire State Building

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Ford is celebrating the golden anniversary of its iconic Mustang by unveiling the new 2015 model from the top of the Empire State Building.

The Ford Mustang made its debut at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. Then in 1965, engineers took apart one of the cars and transported it to the top of the Empire State Building where it was reassembled for photographers.

Mark Schaller, Mustang Product Manager At Ford

Fifty years later, Ford recreated the stunt with the new 2015 Mustang convertible.

PHOTOS: Mustang Turns 50

The car had to be disassembled into five pieces and then carried to the 86th floor observation deck, where it was put back together overnight.

"The observation deck is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., leaving our crew of six with only a six-hour window to get everything out onto the deck and get the car assembled," Dave Pericak, Mustang chief engineer, said on the company's website. "Before we shipped the crates to New York, the crew spent several days practicing the entire assembly process, timing everything down to the minute much like a NASCAR or Formula One pit crew."

Ford is also planning to build 1,964 limited-edition Mustang GTs in honor the pony car's 50th anniversary.

The 50 Year Limited Edition cars will be some of the first built when production of the 2015 Mustang begins this year. It will be available in white or blue with either a manual or automatic transmission.

"There's a lot of neat little things that we've been able to incorporate into the car that are going to be only unique to that car, which will help make it a very rare piece for everybody," Mark Schaller, the Mustang product manager at Ford, told WCBS 880's Steve Scott.

The Mustang will be on display at the Empire State Building until Friday, ahead of the 2014 New York International Auto Show, which begins this week.

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