When I heard the story of the phantom, it was a Mustang, and, according to the chap who told it to me (an FSO), it was supposedly painted black.
I recall seeing a (I think) dark blue Mustang with red (?) spinner landing at Adelaide airport on a number of occasions in the late 1960's - I wondered if this machine might have coloured the story of the phantom.
I saw a picture of a mustang at the Reno air races, with a painting of a boxing kangaroo on the gear-door. This was surely the same P-51 that Tony recovered.
I met Tony only once - in Parafield in 1981 when a Merlin III made an emergency landing having gone around from ground-strike incident at Colin Hayes' private strip in the Barrossa Valley. Tony had been called in to complete the charter in a Lloyds BE200 - the passenger that was to be picked up from the private strip was none other than Malcolm Fraser, who had been enjoying Colin's hospitality. Wisely, it was decided to send the PM to Parafield in a car, and then fly him home from there!
(I wish I had had a camera to take a picture of the Merlin - it was so bent that fuel was running like a tap from the ruptured wings, and the props had bent forward........then there was the bent gear, and cracked wheels, and corrugated skin, and......!!)