History Of The Great Ford Mustang

As far as the consumer is concerned, the history ofracing. The suspension, wheel and brakes were all
the great Ford Mustang began when it was shown tomodified, and the cars were to become the basis of
the public at New York's World Exhibition. Themany future models that are even now are much
prototypes had been in existence since 1962, withsought after.
the Mustang 1 (T-5) being first introduced to theDuring the early 1970s the Mustang lost its way a bit
motor racing world at the Watkins Glen Grand Prixand became a bit too big and unwieldy. The original
where Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney drove it for agrace and élan that so attracted early admirers
few laps each as a demo.was lost, and it became just another car. Part of this
In the early 1960s, Ford desperately needed a newwas due to emissions regulations, but sales dropped
car to compete with the sporty Chevrolet Corsairso much that Ford had to rethink its design strategy
Monza, and its first attempt, the Falcon Future, failedwith the Mustang.
to compete. A brand new car was needed, and theThe Mustang II was introduced in 1974, and although
idea for the Mustang was born. It was sporty andit was small and vastly underpowered, it takes its
quick and a four seater. It was appealing toplace in the history of the car because it brought to
youngsters, and the prototype was well receiveda halt the drop in sales. It sold because of economy
when shown at the motor racing circuits.in fuel, and the 1973 OPEC fuel embargo. People
It went in production in 1964, and was an instant hit.were afraid that a gas guzzler would hurt their
Its launch on 17th April, 1964 was the beginning ofpockets, and so temporarily went for the smaller car.
what was to be the most popular car ever inHowever, this did not last long, and 1975 brought
American history, and it sold half a million in its firstback the V8 engine to the Mustang. However,
year. Its customers included every age and it wasalthough it had a 5 liter engine, the carburetor was
equally popular to men and women.too small and the catalytic converter combined with
Many of its parts were taken from the failed Falcon,that to render it lifeless.
and its immediate success had as much to do withThen came a period of relative stability although
the almost perfect advertising campaign as it had tothere were a few trim changes. Fans must have
do with looks and speed. The advertising power ofseen the end coming because the late 1970s saw a
the three major television networks was usedslight increase in sales, rather than the drop that
extensively, and with its distinctive mane and tailmodel now deserved. The Cobra II and King Cobra
galloping across the red, white and blue of Americaversions did little to spark a return to the glory days
the 'Pony Car' was the phenomenon of its age,for the 1960s, and Ford made a last ditch attempt to
representing the flavor of the 1960s more perfectlyrewrite the Mustang in 1979. The new Mustang was
than its designers could ever have dreamt possible.available as a coupé or fastback with a bit
It was a car of its day that arrived with perfectmore room inside than the either the original or the ill
timing. Later to be called the 1964½, the originalfated Mustang II.
Mustang was available as a convertible and as aHowever, the running horse had gone, and the rear
coupe, both with chrome wrap-around fenders, thelights lost their distinctive three segments: this
distinctive chrome grill with running pony, and aexpanded to six, while the side scallop also
lengthened hood. Although it claimed to have fourdisappeared. It no longer resembled a Mustang!
seats, the back seat was a bit small and it alsoAlterations continued to be made, and the California
sported three tails lights on each side. It has sold aHighway Patrol found a use for a special coupe model
million by 1966, although before that the GT andas a high speed pursuit vehicle. With its 157 HP V8
fastback model had been introduced.engine, this car was used by a number of law
The car continued to progress, and by the end ofenforcement agent up until 1993, when Ford killed
the 60s had become longer by four inches, and a lotthem off.
heavier than the original, much of this in response toThe fans were wrong, however, and development
the development of Chevrolet's Firebird and Pontiac.continued as the Mustang conformed with the
It was the Corvette, however, that brought thecoming of fuel injection, air bags and other essential
Mustang into the road racing arena. The Mustang wasimprovements, though the original concept had
so popular, especially with the young, that Ford werecompletely disappeared. In 2005 Ford finally ditched
desperate to race it against the Corvette. However,the ancient Fox platform and introduced that now
only production two seaters were allowed to race,used for the Lincoln and the Thunderbird. The
and to enable them to do this at least 100 twonewest Mustang has reverted to some of the original
seaters had be produced by January 1965.features, and it is a miracle that the car has survived
This was achieved with the help of Mustang fan andso long.
racer, Carol Shelby, who modified 100 of the 2+2Nobody involved in 1962 development team would
models into GT 350 models, in the processhave believed that the great Ford Mustang would still
re-equipping them to render them more suitable forbe around 45 years later.