Mary Richards was an iconic character on the ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ TV show because she was a woman who blazed a trail for single working women in the early 1970s.
Mary the TV character made all of her own choices in life, including ownership of Mustang convertibles, despite the fact she lived in Minnesota, a state not exactly known for its palm trees and banana plantations.
Jim Sutherland
Nevertheless, the early 1970s Mustangs became Mary’s signature cars during the opening sequence of every episode, including her blue ’73 Mustang convertible that she was washing for the intro that season.
Rosemarie Nowicki was a big fan of the Mary Tyler Moore show because of the famous TV character and her choices in life, including Mary Richards’ decision to own a Mustang convertible. Rosemarie got out of high school during the early 1970s and wanted to buy a Mustang like the one Mary owned on the show.
Unfortunately, her timing was not good because Ford decided to offer the Mustang II as a replacement for the previous Mustang and Rosemarie was not a fan of the new down-sized pony car. Consequently, Rosemarie did not get her dream car for several years because an ideal 1973 Mustang convertible was unavailable at the time.
The good news is Rosemarie was finally able to purchase a 1973 Mustang convertible in 1984 and fulfill her quest to find a car just like the one Mary Richards owned on the ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ TV show.
Rosemarie’s ’73 Mustang is equipped with a 351 small block engine and has a Ram Air Cobra Jet performance option. The original details of the car were important to Rosemarie, so she stuck to factory specs over the years.
In fact, Rosemarie’s Mustang was at a 1993 Ford meet and was used as a template by an attendee because he liked its accuracy and wanted to use the information for his own Mustang restoration project.
Rosemarie added her car also caught the attention of a ‘Mustang Illustrated’ magazine writer and he wanted its story for his publication. She was a little shy about the idea, but the writer went to elaborate means to get her story (including a poker rally prize ruse) so Rosemarie finally overcame her reluctance and agreed to an interview.
Her Mustang convertible has plenty of options, including power windows, power steering, power front disc/rear drum brakes, along with a power top.
Rosemarie has owned the car since 1984 and it underwent a rejuvenation about 20 years ago, including an interior refurbishment with the correct fabric for its knitted bucket seats, but she was very careful to stay true to the car’s factory specs.
These days Rosemarie does not drive her stylish 1973 Mustang convertible as much as she did in the past, but Rosemarie still loves getting behind the wheel of her Mary Richards-mobile whenever the opportunity arises for her. Her car can still gallop down any highway because it’s “comfortable at 70 mph and loves to do 80”, in her words.
Rosemarie gave plenty of credit to her husband Jim with her closing remark: “I got the car and the mechanic”.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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