A husband was moved to tears after his wife bought back the vintage Mustang he built with his dad as a teenager – before surprising him with it on his birthday.
Kyle Hale, 40, from Friendswood, Texas, had many special memories tied to his old 1968 Ford Mustang.
The 40-year-old built the car from scratch with his father while in high school – but when he and his wife, Kalli, Kyle’s high school sweetheart then attended dental school in 2011, they were stuck for cash and made the difficult decision to sell Kyle’s Mustang for funds.
Years later, though – and now working as a dentist – Kalli started to think of gifts for Kyle’s milestone 40th birthday, and so she began to wonder about the fate of his beloved Mustang.
Kyle had sold it to an employee of his father, who had then sold it to his stepson, and so Kalli, 39, optimistically reached out to ask if she could buy the vehicle back.
To Kalli’s surprise, the seller agreed, and even said he would store the car until Kyle’s birthday party, on December 6, 2025.
After a meal at their home, Kalli gave a speech and finished by saying, “I may have pulled off the greatest surprise in our marriage. I need your parents and my parents to walk behind you to the driveway.”
As everyone made their way outside, an emotional Kyle cried as he saw his 57-year-old Mustang pull up in front of his house, before embracing Kalli and thanking her for making everything possible.
In the background, Kyle’s mom could also be heard shouting, “That’s the car!,” as the vehicle pulled up, having helped her son initially purchase the vehicle as a teenager.
Kalli said: “It was absolute joy. He is my best friend.
“We are high school sweethearts, and I helped him build the car on occasion with my limited teenage skills.
“He was absolutely shocked, cried, and couldn’t believe I was able to buy it back for him.
“Everyone was so happy for him, and in the video, you hear his mom scream, “That’s the car!”
“It was as much a gift to his parents who had little money to help him buy a car.
“They were shocked and, in that moment, he became their 14-year-old boy again, working on the car.”
