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1965-66 Ford Mustang
By David Bellm
Since its introduction, the Ford Mustang has remained one of the
most enduring symbols of the exciting style and exuberant confidence that
make America unique.
But beyond that, this legendary car also has the distinction of
being one of the most successful new automobiles ever introduced. Its
birth jolted a ponderous, conservative automotive industry to its core,
creating a new category of car and bringing about changes that remain to
this day.
The Mustang story began in the early 1960s with Ford Product
Manager Donald Frey and Ford Division General Manager Lee Iacocca. Before
almost anyone else in the industry, they began to see a tremendous
untapped market for a small, inexpensive sporty car that would appeal to
energetic young buyers. Together with several other like-minded
executives, Iacocca and Frey began to think of the ideal car to appeal to
this burgeoning market.
The plan made sense. The massive number of children born in the
wake of World War II would soon be reaching driving age and then
adulthood. To the more forward-thinking Ford executives, it seemed
obvious that the right car could instantly find an underserved market of
hungry new buyers numbering in the millions.
After toying with several possible directions for their new sporty car --
including a two-seat, mid-engine design -- the team quickly came to the
conclusion that a more conventional four-seat design would be best, to
allow at least a little practicality for typical buyers.
To save costs, it was decided early on to keep Mustang's engineering as
simple as possible, and share many of its components with those of the
Ford Falcon compact sedan.
Built on this basic platform would be three Mustang body styles: coupe,
fastback, and convertible.
To create the look of the car, Iacocca held a design competition between
several styling studios within Ford Motor Company. The winning design was
created by David Ash and Joseph Oros. Unlike many such concept designs,
the Mustang's styling was surprisingly refined from the beginning. It
would receive only relatively minor revisions for the production version.
To appeal to as wide of a range of buyers as possible, the new car would
be marketed with an almost unheard of range of options. Buyers could
order up almost any unique combination of these options, customizing
their Mustang into anything from an economical commuter car to a plush
Grande Turismo with rich European style and fiery performance.
And regardless of equipment, Mustang offered good performance. With a
relatively low weight of 2570 lb, even the car's base 170cid inline
six-cylinder provided decent acceleration. The hotter 260cid (later
289cid) V8s added some extra weight, but more than made up for it with
pleasingly strong punch.
On March 9, 1964, the very first Mustang rolled down Ford's Dearborn,
Michigan production line. On April 17, 1964 the car made its official
public debut, as a ‘65 model, at the New York World's Fair. Two days
later, Mustang came to America's living rooms, via commercials aired on
all three television networks.
The public's reaction to the pioneering new car was sensational. Spurred
on in part by the Mustang's startlingly low $2,368 base price, a frenzy
over the car quickly lathered among the youth-crazed nation.
Sales immediately outstripped even Iacocca wildest hopes. The power that
the Mustang held over new-car buyers was immediately apparent, forcing
rival automakers General Motors and Chrysler Corporation to launch crash
programs to develop similar cars.
But developing Mustang competitors and getting them to market would take
years. And so, for the near future, the sporty Ford compact would have
the field almost entirely to itself.
Despite the lack of competition, Ford continued to further sharpen
Mustang's appeal. Later in the 1965 model year, Ford teamed up with famed
race-car driver Carroll Shelby to build hot GT-350 and race-ready GT-350R
Mustangs, which sported a host of unique performance accessories and
brash, racing-striped paint schemes.
After just two years of production, some 1.5 million Mustangs had rolled
off the assembly line-an astounding figure for a car that arguably wasn't
nearly as practical as more conventional machines coming out of Detroit
at the time.
With real competitors finally looming on the horizon for 1967, Ford
redesigned the Mustang, making it larger and somewhat more substantial
feeling, although visually not obviously different.
At the same time, Ford took advantage of the car's new larger size to
give Mustang bigger, more powerful engines, including 390- and 428-cid
"big-block" V8s.
Accordingly, sales remained strong even in the face of ever more intense
rivals. And so it would remain for decades to come, through numerous
successive design iterations.
For 2005, Ford introduced an all-new Mustang design. With styling that's
heavily influenced by the original 1965 version, complemented by
performance that's better than ever, this latest version of the original Ponycar has once again captured the hearts of auto enthusiasts around the
world.
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