ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — It will be a big day Thursday for Harry (Herk) Phillips.
Known in these circles for his baseball prowess, his family values and now — more than ever — his laid back talents for selling cars.
Phillips sold the first Ford Mustang — not just the first one in Newfoundland and Labrador, but the first-ever production model to airline pilot Stanley Tucker in April 1964, three days before the car was made available to the world.
A news conference set for Thursday morning at 10 a.m. at the Guv’Nor Inn on Elizabeth Avenue in St. John’s will outline the itinerary and the additional moving pieces that are sending Harry to visit the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., and to see the prized Mustang one more time.
“I am feeling a lot better about this right now,’’ Phillips said. “I am not big on those Go Fund Me pages and if I had to do the trip that way, I wouldn’t," he said.
“But to see the work Stephanie put into this and getting to do this trip with her means so much. She was our first grandchild and while you can’t pick your family, she’s a doer, and there is nobody better to share this trip with,’’ he added.
Stephanie Mealey took on the task of running a social media campaign hoping to get The Henry Ford Museum and Ford Motor Company to recognize this accomplishment as part of the history of the Mustang.
The initiative — #SendHarryToHenry — was hoping to accomplish sending Phillips to Detroit to be reunited with the car, tour the museum, see the history surrounding it and be a side note in that history.
This is the letter from @thehenryford’s Curator of Transportation Matthew Anderson to Harry formally inviting him to be reunited with Mustang Serial Number One! How exciting!! Hopefully now @FordCanada can join us in helping complete this wish for Harry!! #SendHarryToHenry pic.twitter.com/4SMhfJKmK6
— Send Harry To Henry (@SendHarry2Henry) August 17, 2019
“We are very excited that my grandfather is getting the opportunity to be reunited with 001,’’ Mealey said.
“Through the support of locals, and nationally for that matter, we were able to make this happen. Everyone worked hard to make it happen and we are looking forward to going,’’ she added.
Phillips started his sales career at George G.R. Parsons Ltd. on Elizabeth Avenue in St. John’s in 1959. His laid-back approach was refreshing to customers and as he settled into the industry, the customers started to come back to him on a regular basis.
Fast-forward to 1964 and it was just another workday when Eastern Provincial Airlines pilot Stanley Tucker wandered into the showroom to have a look at the new car Ford was releasing that year, a two-door sports car.
Harry married his wife Rosemary in 1956. They had five children that included three daughters: Debbie (oldest of five), Heather and Roseanne and two sons Steve and Harry who are both deceased. All of the children resided in St. John’s and started their own families and there are numerous grandchildren, nine including Heather's daughter Stephanie, who led the charge to get him to see the car once again.
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