The initial founder of Mustangs Across America Inc, Sam Haymart has been a Mustang fanatic since his teenage years. His first car was a 1968 Mustang that he started building at age 14. The car was a basket-case shell rotting in a grassy field at a family friend’s ranch when he bought it for $100. That Mustang combined with the “guts” of a terminally rusted out car his father owned became a rolling reality when he turned 16. That Mustang stayed in with him for over 10 years while many other Mustangs both vintage and new came and went.
At 18, he moved to Arizona to attend architectural school until he graduated and moved back to Northern California where he initially grew up. Soon after Sam became very involved with the local Mustang Club in Sacramento. His enthusiasm grew for the Mustangs and with his first good job he bought a new 1989 Mustang LX 5.0, allowing the 1967 to take it a little easier.
Sam found himself at the helm of the 1994 Mustangs Across America cross country convoy after sending letters to the Mustang magazines at the time, saying that he planned to organize a "Pony Drive" from California to Charlotte, NC for the then Mustang 30th Anniversary. As the story goes, over 200 Mustang owners from around the United Stated and the globe wrote back. Well that is history now, and Mustangs Across America has become as familiar name in many Mustang owners minds.
Just after the first MAA Drive in 1994 he married his wife Llyra at a Mustang show themed wedding. Over 20 Mustangs displayed in a horseshoe formation around the altar was a sight to behold. The truth is, that Llyra conceived and planned the whole affair. In the following years he and his new bride soon had to let the 1967 Mustang go in order to secure a more suitable “family car”. In the following years they had three children. During this time, MAA took a brief hiatus. During that time he and his growing family had the opportunity later to have other Mustangs along the way including a 1994 Cobra which was stolen and later a 1998 GT.
He has worked as an architectural designer, product and marketing manager for a large developers in California and in Arizona including JMC, Del Webb and Pulte Homes. Llyra and Sam are now self employed. Sam runs Mustangs Across America Inc. as a full time enterprise. They permanently moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2003 to escape California’s skyrocketing cost of living and to enjoy the warm winter climate of the area. He currently drives a 2001 Roush Stage 3 Mustang, and his wife drives a 2004 Saleen S281 SC custom-built Mustang.
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