Melvin Betancourt is a Ford designer who 11 years ago, suffered a serious heart problem. Betancourt is now 49 years old and in good health, thanks to the doctors at Henry Ford Hospital who performed a very difficult open-heart surgery and saved his life.
Wanting to give something back, a grateful Betancourt decided to design a one-off 2012 Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca that will be auctioned off to benefit the cardiovascular care, research and education departments at the Henry Ford Health System.
“There are gifted people out there who have been given the ability to do what they do,” said Betancourt. “I’m here because of them. We’re all here for a purpose, and maybe my purpose is to help people through my skills. One of the things I do very well is vehicle customization – taking a car that already exists and enhancing it to make it a one-of-a-kind vehicle.”
The one-off Mustang is Betancourt’s modern version of the 1970 Boss 302 with which Parnelli Jones won the 1970 Trans-Am Championship. It is painted in the iconic “school bus” yellow color at the AutoAlliance International plant, where all Mustangs are built.
Instead of using 1970's-style racing decals, Betancourt decided to paint the black stripes and the number 15 on the doors. “I approached the project from a car collector’s perspective”, he says. “I asked myself, what would happen if they put me back in 1970 and asked me to design a car for Parnelli Jones.”
The Mustang was auctioned off on Saturday, October 15, at the “Get Your Heart Racing” event and Parnelli Jones signed the car making this collector’s item even more special.
