7/5/23

It certainly wasn’t the type of fireworks paradegoers in Staunton were expecting yesterday when a classic car burst into flames.

Patrick Hite with the Staunton News-Leader reported that the 1965 Ford Mustang convertible was part of the Fourth of July parade during the Happy Birthday America festival at Gypsy Hill Park.

Photos from the event show a column of flames billowing from underneath the candy-apple red vehicle, rising well over the windshield of the coupe.

The vehicle’s owner told Hite that an overheated transmission is to blame for sparking the blaze.

Nobody was injured, and the owner said he hoped to drive the Mustang home – after it cooled down.