Following is a short quirky story by Mustang Jack, a long time friend, who collected Mustangs for years:
Back in the 50's I was a teenager living in the San Fernando Valley. That's the same valley where the Mustang motorcycles were built. I owned a Doodle Bug, a Cushman, and a Powell but what I really wanted was a Mustang. To use a Southern California expression, they were bitchin'. Being four foot eleven at the time, a Mustang was the perfect size for me.
All my friends knew I was looking for a used Mustang to buy. This guy, Gary Mead, moved to the valley from Hollywood. He told me he once lived down the street from Ricky Nelson. He said Ricky had a Mustang that he didn't ride much. He said I should give him a call and see if it was for sale. At first I thought he was kidding, but he handed me Ricky's phone number. Can you imagine that? I was such a Ricky Nelson fan at that time (we were the same age). I was almost afraid to call.
When I finally got up the nerve to call, his mom, Harriet, answered the phone. She said she knew Gary and that Ricky was at basketball practice over at the church. She asked me to call back in an hour and Ricky would be home by then. I called back in an hour and Ricky Nelson himself answered the phone. He told me that his brother, David, owned half interest in the Mustang and if they sold the Mustang they wouldn't be able to get enough money out of it for each of them to afford their own scooters. This sounded weird to me. Ozzie and Harriet were #1 in the ratings and would be for years, so I thought they were rich. It turns out all the money the Nelson boys made went into trust funds, and they couldn't touch it until they reached a certain age. All they were getting was an allowance.
Later on I saw an Ozzie and Harriet show about the scooter partnership that wasn't working out. During the show, they referred to the Mustang as “The Scooter”. The bike was a Pony model. I would sure like a copy of that show if anyone can find it!
Story by 02-03 VMI2C member
Mustang Jack, Reseda, CA
Taken from The Mustang News
