Images from a cool photo shoot about a very unique and rare car, the 1969 Playboy Special Edition Ford Mustang, for a magazine article about the car (see below). (with additonal photos of Shannan from earlier shoots). Model: Shannan Harris                                    Styling: Leila Zaidan

Shannan also looks great with exotics, pickups, Japanese race bikes, & pools! (More of Shannan from shoots that have been rotated off.)




1969 Mustang Convertible Playboy Special Edition

Text & Photos: Jack Criswell

Despite the record-setting sales of Ford’s Mustang just a few years earlier (418,000 were sold the first year, 22,000 of those the first day!), Ford thought they needed something to inject more life into the car, and did so with a successful re-design for 1969, making it a bit larger and sleeker in every dimension.  Ford sold 299,824 1969 Mustangs, which were also the first to have radial tires, intermittent wipers, and those exterior mirrors everyone copied.

Ford also wanted to inject some youth and “freedom,” so they linked up with Playboy to produce these Special Editions for Playboy Playmates. Both Mustang and Playboy were hitting their respective strides back then, Playboy in stilletos.

These Special Editions were painted a hue of pink selected by Hugh himself (paint code 71617) and the Playmate could select any of the 12 or so body combinations available, including a convertible like this one. It is not clear whether these were only for Playmate of the Year, or for all Playmates. But since only ten were made each year for six years, and although it was possible for individuals to select some of the same options that made them Special Editions, a true Playboy Special Edition is easily one of the rarest Mustangs ever produced. This one even came to its owner with a “Playmate of the Year” tag!

If it was Playmate of the Year, then this one was owned by the late Connie Kreski, a 20-year old blonde nursing student in Detroit Michigan who later starred in eight feature films and looked like, if you squint and joggle your computer screen around a bit, like Shannan! We did the best we could.

Some pertinent statistics: Connie Kreski, 35-23-36, 118 lbs, 5’5” (Playmate “average” for 1969 was 35.5-23.38-35.04, 113 lbs, 5’4”)
1969 Ford Mustang: just under 3,000 pounds, 10 engines available from 115 hp to 376 hp for the Boss (some say 400+ hp), “average” was 0-60 in 8 seconds and $3,000.

The poses are rather plain because they are authentic to the period.