Young mechanic (in training) spends life savings on dream car
Kelly Ward, 21, loves cars. She's not just messing around about that.
She loves them so much that she took a pass on college, which bored her, and is studying to be a mechanic instead. Her plan: Take over the family auto repair shop, which would make it a fourth-generation operation in Portland, the family's small hometown between Lansing and Grand Rapids.
Ward loves cars so much, and the Ford Mustang specifically, that she saved aggressively and put it all down in August to buy a 2024 candy apple red Mustang. That means $40,000 down and $20,000 in car payments.
60 years of Mustang and still a draw
She's hardly alone in that love of Mustangs.
Since its introduction 60 years ago — on April 17, 1964, at the New York World's Fair — Ford has built 10.4 million Mustangs. The iconic sports car has steady demand: Ford says it sold 13,290 of the model in the last three months of 2023, a 21% increase from the same period in 2022, according to Ford sales data. Those numbers are holding steady — sales were 13,707 for the first three months of this year. For all of last year, Mustang sales grew 2% from 2022 to 48,605 vehicles — built in Flat Rock by UAW members.
More: 11 things you may not know about the Ford Mustang
Ward's family has run a garage since the 1930s. Now the kid who has grown up around horses and ridden horses since high school, an equestrian to the core, has a pony car. For the past two years, she has studied mechanics at Lansing Community College. In her off hours since January, she has worked full time at the family's repair shop on Maple Street.
"The guys call me the office girl. I’ll answer the phone, ring up customers, write paperwork for work orders, take in parts, order parts," Ward told the Free Press. "I always knew, eventually, I would take over the family business."
Ward graduated high school in 2021 and worked at a Ford dealership for six months in 2022. That didn't work for her.
"I don't want that," she told the Free Press. "I thought, 'I'll go be a mechanic' and help Dad."
Starting at age 12, Ward could be found spending her summers at the repair shop, handing her dad tools. And watching. And observing. The family owned a 1997 Ford Thunderbird, a 1993 Ford Bronco, plus a few F-250 trucks.
'I take the top down, the wind is in my hair'
In the end, Ward just wanted to be behind the wheel in a 2024 Mustang — an old-school internal combustion model.
"I love going on the highway," she said. "I may be a little trigger-happy with the gas down. It’s a convertible. I really like country music — Morgan Wallen, Reba McIntire, Shania (Twain). I grew up listening to REO Speedwagon, ELO, the Eagles. My absolute favorite song is Phil Vassar, 'Little Red Rodeo.' "
She saved birthday and Christmas checks since forever. She earned money doing chores. She worked in the garage.
"I can't remember what age I was when I thought, 'I'll have a Mustang one day,'" Ward said.
When the time came, she went with a two-door Mustang with a convertible top.
"It's just so cool. I take the top down, the wind is in my hair. And now I braid it because it gets snarly," she said. "I work on cars. I've done countless oil changes, tire changes, tire repair and I've helped our master mechanic. I've put a new engine in a vehicle. I've had to transfer stuff from an old engine to a new engine, like hoses and connectors."
Ward lives in cargo pants, a T-shirt with the garage emblem and a baseball cap.
"I’m like, I still can’t believe I own this Mustang. I'm like, no way. This is not real. Then knowing that I’m, like eventually going to be the owner/operator of the business. I’m just like, dang, that’s gonna be mine someday. And I’m going to run it."
Her dad, Steve, and mom, Becky, are totally behind their little girl.
Her great-grandpa Zene Ward opened the shop in 1929. Then his son Graydon. Then his son Steve.
"We've been going for 95 years now," Steve Ward, 63, told the Free Press. "There’s easier stuff to do. This is hard work. I work 12 to 14 hours a day."For now, Kelly Ward is handling the office end of it, supporting a team of six at the shop.
Always part of American culture
Erich Merkle, Ford U.S. sales analyst, told the Free Press that it's no surprise that the pony car plays such a key role in childhood dreams. "Mustang has always been a part of the American culture."
Added Matt Anderson, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn: "Not many model names endure for six decades. I think its longevity is a testament to Mustang’s ability to change with the times, from the original 'youth car' of 1964 to the economical Mustang II of the 1970s to the retro-styled versions of the early 2000s. Even the offshoot Mach-E shows that Mustang still has an eye on the future as well as the past."
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Art Hyde, 69, of Grosse Pointe Farms, was chief engineer of the Mustang while working at Ford from 1977 to 2017. He said, "I fought retirement."
A car for every man (and woman)
Now Hyde is an associate professor at the University of Michigan College of Engineering in Ann Arbor, where he directs the automotive engineering program. Yet his passion remains Mustang. He is the one who thought up Mustang Alley at the Woodward Dream Cruise back in 1999.
"The suburbs, for example, would not exist but for the Model T. A car for every man was a huge innovation," he said. "The Mustang stands for individuality, self-expression, self-actualization. You’re making a statement: You’re a confident person — don’t mess with me. There is this achievable, attainable vehicle that is prestigious without being stuffy. It’s a sports car for every man. It’s now the top-selling sports car in the world."
More: Dad buys Mustang for son battling cancer, gets offer from Ford CEO
More: 2024 Ford Mustang chief engineer learned to drive on a Mustang GT stick, reveals future
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on X @phoebesaid.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Young mechanic (in training) spends life savings on dream car
