Last updated on November 11th, 2019
Walking down a neighborhood street near our hotel in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), we noticed a vehicle that seemed a bit out of place on a neighborhood street in Vietnam.
Doesn’t that look like a classic American muscle car (or at least an American muscle car wannabe)?
Indeed. It is, to be precise, a modified 1967 Ford Mustang fastback.
If only she could talk.
Americans left a lot of stuff behind when they retreated from Vietnam after the war, but they didn’t leave much in the way of American culture (unlike the French who left a lot of great buildings when they departed). Americans didn’t bring much beyond what was needed to conduct a war, so the only vintage American items found here are generally personal items that belonged to individual soldiers and military equipment.
How and when this car got here has to be quite a story.
Hi, A few years since the original post, but I own a 1967 Cadillac Eldorado that was ordered through the sole GM dealer in Vietnam, and delivered to an Air Force captain, then assigned to MACV in Saigon.
The car was first registered in the US when Captain Durham was reassigned to Travis AFB in CA.
I have a 1969 Mustang with a buck plate under the hood that says EX S. VIETNAM.
Very cool / interesting. I would absolutely LOVE to know the story behind that Mustang : )
Yeah, me too. I’ve been told the most likely scenario is that it was shipped over by a US military officer in the early days of the war. But that’s just a guess. I’d love it if someday some guy saw this and sent me a note that said: “hey, that’s my car!”
My husband owns this car.
This particular car? If yes, please tell us more!
This Mustang was not owned by military officer. It was just one of many vehicles (mostly Ford LTDs) supplied to CIA agents for their needs. Remember the CIA building in that 1975 iconic evacuación photo. Anyhow we know agent Michael Aquino drove it for short time along with other agents. After evacuating Saigón ‘The Phoenix Program’ south vietnamese soldiers kinda inherited everything. This 67 fastback was stored behind a church for 8 years then transfered hands couple times and now we own this SO. VIETNAM HXO mustang. Entire original drivetrain and interior is still intact so it would take very little to bring her back to 100% original condition.
Margot, that is fascinating. Thank you so much for the back story.
Fascinating story.
I’ve been trying to determine what kind of license plate would have been used. I have a 1967 Cadillac Eldorado that was ordered through the (then) GM dealer in Saigon by an Air Force Captain, and delivered to him there. He had the car in Saigon for two years before being transferred to Travis AFB in CA. I would love to display the plates on the car show that it wore then. Do you have any Idea? I know “Armed Forces” plates have been used in some countries, but I can find no such plates for Vietnam.
Thanks, Joe