Vanderbilt Cup Races

The owner of the Mustang III in 1968 and 1969 has recently been discovered.

In the Comments section in a recent Mustang post, Jean Rogers commented that her and her then husband Stuart  Rogers, were owners of the 1963 Mustang III  Concept Show Car for a 'short' time (pun intended) in 1968 and 1969. Previously unknown, Jean and Stuart were the owners between a Aetna Insurance Co. executive and Bill Snyder who then kept the Mustang for over 46 years. 

Via post comments:

Jean Rogers: "I believe that the shorty mustang was once in my ownership. When the executive at Aetna sold it, I lived in Connecticut. My husband and I purchased a show car mustang that had been stolen and recovered by Aetna.  Where is the car now?  We took it to car shows and i have a picture of me sitting on the back of it.  My husband was showing it off at work one day and blew out the engine, so we had to send it back to Detroit to get it rebuilt.  Unfortunately, I told him he had to sell it. We advertised it for sale and a gentleman from Ohio came and bought it. I have always wondered what happened to it."

When contacted, Jean forwarded the above never-before-seen photo she had with the Mustang III in Harwinton Connecticut in 1968.

Via Email:

Jean Rogers: "It was so exciting to receive your email to confirm my ownership of the Mustang 111.  I have been doing some research regarding our ownership. Is there a date as to when Aetna paid the insurance claim , or a record of the executive who purchased the car from Aetna?  I am digging into records and all I have so far is the news clipping of the car being mentioned as featured in the Harrington, Conn Fair and shown by Stuart and Jean Rogers,  The fair still exists and this Oct will be the 164th fair.  We exhibited it in the 112th fair, no date on the article.

I have written to the committee to see if they might have any information in their archives.  It was around 1967-68 that we owned it. We did not have it for long. Stuart is deceased and so I don’t have anyone to help me recall the dates.  I am going to try and find the name of his friend that told us about the car and see it he can help.  I will send a copy of the small article about the fair, no picture with it.  I will also send the picture of me sitting on the hood of the car which may have been taken at the fair.

Where do you keep the car now? Do you still take it on the road now and then? I will continue to see what I can find.  So glad to hear that the show car is still in existence and well loved I am sure. 

Jean Rogers  aka Jean Rogers Erickson"

Enjoy the July 4th holiday!

Greg O. and Howard Kroplick