A half century ago, the Ford Mustang made its debut at the World's Fair in Queens. And this month, Ford debuted its latest model. News 12's John Prentice met up with some Long Islanders to reminisce about America's Pony car.

Joe Booker, of Port Jefferson, bought his 1965 Mustang convertible as a project. After taking it apart and researching the VIN number, Booker says the vehicle was a first day production car.

"So we decided to...get all original parts and stay as close to original as we could get," says Booker.

Mustang specialist and restoration expert Andy Schaefer says Ford enlisted the help of legendary car builder Carroll Shelby to turn an ordinary Mustang into a track-worthy thoroughbred.

"The Mustang was said to be a run-of-the-mill secretary's kind of car and Ford wanted to ... toughen it up," says Schaefer.

In the first year alone, Ford sold more than 400,000 Mustangs.