Zach Taylor’s dream car was a 1968 Mustang, but when he went to buy one, he found human remains inside.

Car nut Zach Taylor had always wanted a 1968 Fastback Mustang. So after seeing one advertised on Craigslist, he arranged a viewing. When Taylor arrived in North Carolina to see the car, he noted a number of unique quirks. But he wasn’t bargaining on finding human remains on the passenger seat.

The appeal of the Ford Mustang has endured for decades. When the first so-called “pony car” was launched in 1964, it shot out of the starting gate to become one of America’s most-loved automobiles. In fact, there’s even a National Mustang Day, celebrated every year on April 17.

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However, Ford reportedly failed to predict the popularity that the Mustang would acquire. As a result, it apparently projected yearly sales of 100,000 vehicles. But it went on to take 22,000 orders for the car on the day it launched. The company, in fact, had to expand its production to three plants in order to satisfy demand.

The Mustang was the brainchild of Lee Iacocca, Ford’s general manager at the time. He wanted to add a new subcompact car to the company’s repertoire. However, there were five strict parameters that the vehicle needed to adhere to. And it was through this framework that the pony car we know and love was born.

First and foremost, the new Ford subcompact needed to seat four people. It also had to contain bucket seats and a floor shifter, but tip the scales at less than 2,500 pounds. The vehicle’s price, point, though, had to be no more than $2,500. And customers needed to be able to add performance and comfort upgrades if they so desired.

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So, soon after its launch, the Mustang was seen as a practical alternative to a sports car. Its relatively affordable price made it accessible, while it’s European-influenced design oozed style. The vehicle was mostly aimed at young drivers, and, boy, did it capture the imaginations of America’s teens.

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Ford officially launched the Mustang at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. And in 1965 alone, it sold an impressive 559,500 units. The vehicle’s popularity was, no doubt, bolstered by the media attention it received. And the car’s exposure included appearances in two James Bond films – Goldfinger and Thunderball.

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As a result of its popularity, the Mustang became an icon of the 1960s. Today, the decade is known as an exciting time for film, music, art and social progression in America. It was a time when youth culture and pop culture collided and that vehicle was part of the revolution. As a result, the car takes pride of place in the Smithsonian Museum’s Transportation Collection.

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The so-called first generation of Mustangs went on sale between 1965 and 1973. And while the car has remained in production to this day, it’s these formative models that garner the most appeal. In fact, the 1965 Mustang is reportedly the most popular vintage vehicle in the United States. But other first generation models are also favorites among gear heads.

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One person who succumbed to the appeal of a first generation Mustang was a man named James. It’s not clear when exactly he purchased his 1968 GT model. What is known, however, is that the Fastback Mustang was subsequently neglected. Indeed, James left the vehicle out to rot under a Floridian tree for 40 years until he sadly passed away.

Following James’ passing, a good friend named Bruce reached out to his family and asked if he could take the Mustang off their hands. They agreed to sell him the car and he subsequently moved it from Florida to his home in Franklin, N.C. He had intended to restore the vehicle. But things didn’t work out.

Consequently, Bruce eventually decided to sell the Fastback Mustang. With that in mind, an advert for it was posted on Craigslist. And that’s was how Zach Taylor, from Georgia, came to learn of the collectible car. Taylor was no stranger to Mustangs, having been obsessed with the iconic vehicles since he was a teenager.

It seems that motor oil runs in Zach’s blood. That’s because his family owns auto part stores in his native Georgia. He himself, though, earns a living working in the Atlanta school system. But in his spare time he, too, was a complete gear head, with a Lexus, three Mustangs, a Subaru and a Honda to his name.

Taylor bought his 1966 Ford Mustang Fastback shortly after he finished college. And he subsequently spent three long years disassembling and rebuilding the classic model. He wanted to retain the car’s iconic look while modernizing the vehicle at the same time. And the end result was, in fact, pretty impressive.

While Taylor had enjoyed the experience of restoring that Mustang, he was now on the look out for a ’67 or ’68 Fastback in need of some TLC. After years of searching for the perfect project, he finally stumbled across James’s old ride on Craigslist in the summer of 2017. And despite some initial reservations, the gear head decided it was the car for him.

Taylor hadn’t been interested in restoring a rare Mustang Fastback. That’s because parts for these editions are expensive and hard to find. But after coming across James’ unique “S” code four-speed car with a 390 V8 engine and special paint job, the gear head decided he’d take the risk. And soon he was on his way to the North Carolina town of Franklin, to view the vehicle in person.

As Bruce didn’t have the internet, he had enlisted the help of a friend to advertise the Mustang on Craigslist. However, when Taylor arrived in Franklin, it was the owner who showed him the car. He then explained how he’d bought the vehicle after James’ death and took the gear head into the chicken barn for a viewing.

Given that Taylor had been a Mustang enthusiast for some years prior to his visit to Franklin, we sure he knew exactly what he was looking at. But little did he know that the car Bruce was selling came with a rather unusual component. And it was something that the gear head had likely never seen in any of his other classic cars.

Indeed, as Taylor was checking the Mustang over inside the barn, he noticed a jar full of sandy-colored powder resting in the passenger seat. It had a golden lid, on which the name “James” was written in block capitals using purple ink. And as the prospective buyer stared at the receptacle, he struggled to process what he was seeing.

What happened next was documented in a 2018 post on the Mustang Fan Club website. Taylor turned to Bruce and asked, “What’s up with the jar on the inside?” And to his surprise, the seller simply replied, “That’s James!” After the Mustang enthusiast composed himself, all he could ask was, “Well, does James come with the car?”

Taylor later told car news site Jalopnik that Bruce was somewhat of an eccentric individual. But when it came to the jar, he was reportedly deadly serious. He even spoke about James as if he was with them. As a result, the gear head was in little doubt that the Mustang contained the remains of its former owner.

It’s not known if the human remains swayed Taylor’s decision, but he originally decided against purchasing the Mustang. However, it appears that Bruce wasn’t willing to let him simply drive off into the sunset. Instead, he struck up a kind of friendship with the stranger. The eccentric owner even called the gear head in the dead of night just to relay stories of his adventures in Florida with James.

Between July 2017 – when Taylor went to see the Mustang – and November of 2018, Bruce persisted in contacting the potential buyer over and over again. He called and texted repeatedly. Later, the gear head estimated that he’d been contacted between 30 and 50 times over the course of 12 months. He was a little weirded out, but he went along with it anyway.

And it seems that Taylor’s patience paid off. Because in November 2018 Bruce agreed to accept $7,000 in exchange for James’ old Mustang. Consequently, the gear head found himself back on the road to Franklin to finally collect his dream car. What’s more, he decided that James, or at least, his ashes, could come along for the ride as well.

But the story didn’t end there. After getting the Mustang home, Taylor decided that its restoration was beyond his expertise. So he cleaned up the car’s dirty interior and added new hubcaps before advertising the vehicle on eBay. And to honor the history of the Mustang, he listed it alongside its original title and keys, as well as James’ remains.

While the unusual extra of human remains probably wasn’t on every car collector’s wish list, the Mustang was, nonetheless, snapped up. It was bought by an individual in the U.K. for a cool $23,300. And following its journey across the Atlantic, the vehicle ended up at Corner Classics where it would undergo restoration.

Based on the Isle of Wight – an island located off England’s south coast – Corner Classics is a vintage car repair centre which specializes in Fords. The business is owned by Colin Budden, who is himself somewhat of a Mustang enthusiast. Over the years, in fact, he’s possessed 25 of the iconic cars. And in June 2019 still owned five.

With that in mind, Budden was clearly excited to get to work on the ’68 Fastback Mustang. A post shared to the Corner Classics Facebook page in April 2018 announced that the repair center was upgrading the car with a replacement body shell which had been made in California. The post read, “Exciting time for this project. It’s going to be a brand new car.”

The update on the ’68 Mustang proved popular on the Corner Classics Facebook page. Over time it clocked up a hundred reactions and a number of comments. And some of the responses the post received even suggested novel ways of keeping James and his beloved car together forever.

Indeed, on the Corner Classics post about James’ old Mustang, one user wrote, “A friend of mine mixed his father’s ashes in to [the] paint he used on his custom motorcycle so he could always ride with his dad.” Similarly, another person suggested, “Why not add the ashes to the new paint job? That way the old owner can always be with his lovely machine.”

Elsewhere, more out-there ideas were put forward suggesting how Corner Cars could incorporate James’ ashes into the Mustang renovation. Seemingly referring to the vehicle’s iconic emblem one user said, “I’ve got it! Turn his ashes into a diamond and embed it in the eye of the Mustang.”

What becomes of James’ ashes is ultimately up to Budden, who appeared to be spearheading the Mustang renovation. And in June 2019 he told Fox News that he was still mulling over his options. However, one technique he did outline was working the original owner’s remains into the framework of the car, so that James could ride with his Mustang forever.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the story of James’ Mustang was soon picked up by the mainstream media. And the guys at Corner Classics seemed to revel in the attention that their latest renovation project received. As such, Budden couldn’t resist sharing the latest write-ups on both his personal and business Facebook accounts.

In June 2019 Colin took to his own Facebook page to announce that he was “feeling proud.” Revealing what had stirred up his emotions, the repair shop owner revealed it was James’ old car. He wrote, “WOW! Just had a call from a reporter in the States and he told me our ’68 mustang restoration story is bouncing around the motoring press [there].”

And the guys at Corner Classics were clearly bowled over again when a major U.S. media outlet ran the Mustang’s unique story. In June 2019 the business posted the article in question on Facebook, announcing, “We’ve made FOX NEWS!!” And once again, the Facebook community lapped up the tale of James’ Mustang.

Again, Corner Classics received a number of messages regarding the vintage car. One of the comments that the repair shop received read, “I love this story! I have a Mustang myself [that] my dad and I rebuilt together! I am following this journey of James and the car! Coming from a young widow, I think it is cool how you would do something with ashes into the car. My late husband would love that.”

Meanwhile, one Facebook user informed Corner Classics that they’d actually discovered the business thanks to the attention James’ Mustang had garnered. They wrote, “It’s how I just found you. I hope you do keep us updated and are able to work his ashes in with the design. It’ll be pretty awesome.”

Following the social media storm surrounding the Mustang, Budden vowed to keep Corner Classics’ followers updated with the car’s progress. What’s more, he also revealed that he had finally decided how he was going to incorporate James into the renovation. In a comment he revealed, “He’s going into the chassis somewhere.”

At first glance, it appeared that Budden was pretty blasé about process of integrating James’ ashes into the Mustang. He later vowed, however, that he was taking his responsibility of honoring the man’s memory seriously. As he said in a Facebook post, “It’s taking very careful consideration and [is] to be done as respectfully as possible.”

What’s more, until Budden has worked out exactly what to do with James’ remains, he’s storing them somewhere special for safe keeping. And after one user inquired about their whereabouts, the Corner Classics owner said of James, “He’s sat on the desk in my office.” But hopefully, he’ll will be back out on the road with his Mustang soon.