Designed to provide fighter escort for Allied bombers, many Mustangs were warhorses turned thoroughbred for the post-war Thompson Trophy races.  The owner of this plane named it Second Fiddle because he crashed another Mustang that he had wanted to enter in the 1946 Thompson Race.  Although Second Fiddle was not as radically modified as the other plane, a special "witches' brew" fuel helped it to finish fifth.  After the races, the plane was donated to the Thompson Auto Album, predecessor to the Crawford Museum.  The plane is still all-original, except for the components removed by the pilot to make the plane lighter for the race.

Click on a link to the right to learn more about our aviation collection!