Two of the world’s most recognizable icons are coming together April 16-17, as the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang convertible will be on display on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in New York. The display will replicate the same feat from nearly 50 years ago. This in part with the global celebration of 50 years since Mustang debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.

Taking a car 86 stories above the densely populated streets of Midtown Manhattan is no simple task. There isn't a portable crane that can reach the 86th floor observatory, and the spire towering above the relatively narrow deck makes helicopter delivery impossible. The elevators are the only viable option.

When the Empire State Building opened in 1931 as the world’s tallest building no one would have envisioned trying to transport a car in the original elevators. However in 1965, a prototype Mustang convertible was sliced into three main sections plus windshield so that the sections would fit into those elevators.

 

 

The 2015 Mustang is nearly seven inches longer and four inches wider than its ancestor, making the task of transporting it up even more challenging. Working from computer engineering data, team members preparing the display car have found just the right places to make the cuts so everything can be loaded onto custom-made racks that can be rolled into the elevators. Once everything is uncrated and transported up 86 floors, the technicians will have less than six hours to reassemble the sections into a complete car that will be on display above Manhattan.

Visitors to the Empire State Building observation deck can see the new Mustang convertible from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., April 16-17.