On the last day of 1986 Mustang production, September 30, 1986, we were at the Dearborn Assembly Plant for what is known as Balance Out Day.
It doesn't happen all that often, but at times, Mustang Monthly has had the magical opportunity to be present at the now closed Dearborn, Michigan assembly plant for unique moments in Mustang history. We were present for Balance Out Day 1986 at Dearborn when it was producing the last of the 1986 Mustangs. Balance Out is when cars and parts should closely match before wrapping up a given model year to keep the overflow of parts minimal.
If memory serves us correctly, our host was Dave Wagner of Ford Motor Company, who escorted us throughout the plant to photo document how Mustangs were assembled. We harnessed a wealth of terrific black and white and color images of a moment in production history of millions of Mustangs at Dearborn.
An '86 Mustang GT hatchback in Bright Canyon Red is started for the first time and driven off the line. Dearborn had already produced a few '87 Mustangs, which were being evaluated for quality issues while '86 Mustangs surrounded them on the line and throughout the plant. More stuff like this to come in your Mustang Monthly Magazine.