Ford shows off 50 years of innovation in a combined 1965/2015 Mustang

Would you jump into a Mustang with a split vintage? Visitors to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum will get to do just that, according to Mashable. It’s not actually a real vehicle, or even a whole one, but, purely for demonstration purposes. Ford recently built two half-model Mustangs, a 1965 version and a 2015 model, to showcase 50 years of innovation. The two halves were joined together and that vehicle is part of the museum’s Property Power Exhibit that focuses on the significance of intellectual property.

You can sit at the wheel on either side of the fused Mustang. The 1965 version is left-hand drive and the 2015 right-hand drive. From the front view, the newer model looks a bit lower at the front lip of the hood and an inch or two higher at the back of the hood, just in front of the windshield. The 1965 model represents — besides the first year of an American archetype — Ford’s patents that year for rear seat-speakers and power convertible tops.

Besides its overall huskier look, the 2015 Mustang GT interior is much more plush on the inside than the original model, from the console display and leather-wrapped steering wheel to the dark amber dashboard lights. Of course, the safety, performance, comfort, and convenience in the newer car are generations ahead of the original. Neither half of the exhibit has an engine (or a rear wheel, for that matter), but visitors can sit in the respective driver’s seats and try the controls. They can also listen to recordings of the V-8 engines that were available for Mustangs in their model years.

An important point to mention for the 1965 Mustang version is that no real car was harmed for the exhibit. They didn’t cut up an original 1965 car. They used a replica. The 2015 model, however, is the real deal. Parts of one, anyway.