Gear Box Mean Machines: The History Of Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang- The Star Of The Dawn

The Ford Mustang was first introduced to the American Car Buying public on April 17 1964. The Mustang was a huge and immediate success. The debut of the Mustang became the second most successful launch of a model in Ford's long history. The most successful launch in Ford's history was the Model T. If you know anything about the success of the Model T, you'll realize what a huge feat this had to have been.

The Ford Mustang First Car

There's a great deal of debate among Car enthusiasts today whether the Mustang was the first Muscle Car,and I won't get into that. But without a doubt that the Mustang was the first of a bred of cars that became known as the Pony Cars.

In 1961 Lee Iaccoca had an inspiration. At the time Iaccoca was a Vice President and also was the General Manager of the Ford Motor Corporation. He wanted Ford to built a car that would seat four people,have bucket seats and a floor mounted shifter. Iaccoca had a younger buyer in mind. He wanted the car to sell for less than $2.5000 in order to attract these younger buyers to the Mustang

The Ford Mustang T

On a personal note here. I was 9 years old when the Mustang first came out,and like a lot of boys my age,I was into cars. The Mustang was the hot topic of conversation among my group of friends. I'll never forget the first time I saw a Ford Mustang. It's hard to describe or to imagine today,but I was enthralled.It was the most beautiful car I'd ever seen.I can still recall going to the dealer's with my Dad and of course my Dad wasn't looking at a Mustang but I managed to break away from he and the salesman,while they were looking at the Fairlanes and LTD's and I went and stared in awe at the Mustang on display there in the dealer's showroom. I was even able to sit in it! What a thrill that had been. Okay,back to the story.

The first Mustangs started to roll off of the production lines on March 9 1964.That this car had gone from concept to a production model in a little more than three years seems an amazing accomplishment today. Ford was able to save both time and money by using components from existing models. The first Mustangs used the chassis and the drive train from the Ford Falcon.

The Ford Mustang 2010

The first Mustangs produced were manufactured with serial numbers for the 1965 model year, and the models that came with the V-8 option came with Ford's 260 cid V-8 engine. These cars are known today as the 1964 and a 1/2's.The 1965 Mustang would be equipped with Ford's new optional 289 cid V-8 engine. The base model Mustang came equipped standard with a 170 cid six cylinder engine and a 3 speed transmission with the floor shifter.

Ford had forecast a model run of 100.000 cars for the first year of production. The demand for the new Mustang was so great that that mark was reached in the first 3 months of production Ford would go on to build more than 325.000 Mustang's in the 1964-65 model years run.

The Ford Mustang 2012

For the remainder of the sixties and into the seventies the Mustang would be the car that the other automakers would strive to match. From Chevrolet's Camaro,to Plymouth's Barracuda and even AMC's Javelin. These cars were all built in hopes of taking some of the Mustang's market share.

But by 1973 the Mustang was no longer the agile and nimble Pony Car that Lee Iacocca had envisioned. It had become big and bulky. So in 1974 Ford introduced the Mustang II.The Mustang II was an early success but due to quality control issues at Ford,the later models of the Mustang II did not meet sales expectations, and the Mustang II was discontinued after the 1978 model year run.

In Ford's third generation Mustangs the muscle was once again available,with the optional 302 cid V-8 engine. This was the hugely popular 5.0 Mustangs. The 5.0 "Stangs" put Mustang back in the performance car market in a big way.

The Ford Mustang GT-500

The Mustang today is into it's fifth generation and is still one of Ford's biggest sellers. The Mustang nameplate has been in production at Ford since March of 1964. Which makes it with 47 years and counting,one of the most successful car models ever to be produced in automotive history.

The Mustang has evolved with the times. When EPA regulation killed the muscle cars in the early 70's,Mustang might have missed a beat with the Mustang II.But it didn't take the folks at Ford long to regroup and once again make the Ford Mustang a name to be proud of. Mustang will go on into the foreseeable future,and I for one am looking forward to seeing what the people at Ford do with their little Pony Car .