1965
1966
Posted on 11/17/2018 7:47:23 AM PST by ETL
The Ford Mustang is an American car manufactured by Ford. It was originally based on the platform of the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car.[1]
The original 1962 Ford Mustang I two-seater concept car had evolved into the 1963 Mustang II four-seater concept car which Ford used to pretest how the public would take interest in the first production Mustang.
The 1963 Mustang II concept car was designed with a variation of the production model's front and rear ends with a roof that was 2.7 inches shorter.[2]
Introduced early on April 17, 1964[3] (16 days after the Plymouth Barracuda), and thus dubbed as a "1964½" by Mustang fans, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A.[4]
The Mustang has undergone several transformations to its current sixth generation.
The Mustang created the "pony car" class of American muscle cars, affordable sporty coupes with long hoods and short rear decks,[5] and gave rise to competitors such as the Chevrolet Camaro,[6] Pontiac Firebird, AMC Javelin,[7] Chrysler's revamped Plymouth Barracuda, and the second generation Dodge Challenger.[8]
The Mustang is also credited for inspiring the designs of coupés such as the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri, which were imported to the United States.
As of August 2018, over 10 million Mustangs have been produced in the U.S.[9]
The Ford Mustang began production five months before the normal start of the 1965 production year.
The early production versions are often referred to as "1964½ models" but all Mustangs were advertised, VIN coded and titled by Ford as 1965 models, though minor design updates in August 1964 at the "formal" start of the 1965 production year contribute to tracking 1964½ production data separately from 1965 data (see data below).[10]
With production beginning in Dearborn, Michigan, on March 9, 1964;[11] the new car was introduced to the public on April 17, 1964[12] at the New York World's Fair.[13]
Executive stylist John Najjar, who was a fan of the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited by Ford to have suggested the name.[14][15]
Najjar co-designed the first prototype of the Ford Mustang known as Ford Mustang I in 1961, working jointly with fellow Ford stylist Philip T. Clark.[16]
The Mustang I made its formal debut at the United States Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, New York, on October 7, 1962, where test driver and contemporary Formula One race driver Dan Gurney lapped the track in a demonstration using the second "race" prototype. His lap times were only slightly off the pace of the F1 race cars.
An alternative view was that Robert J. Eggert, Ford Division market research manager, first suggested the Mustang name.
Eggert, a breeder of quarterhorses, received a birthday present from his wife of the book, The Mustangs by J. Frank Dobie in 1960.
Later, the book's title gave him the idea of adding the "Mustang" name for Ford's new concept car.
The designer preferred Cougar (early styling bucks can be seen wearing a Cougar grille emblem) or Torino (an advertising campaign using the Torino name was actually prepared), while Henry Ford II wanted T-bird II.[17]
As the person responsible for Ford's research on potential names, Eggert added "Mustang" to the list to be tested by focus groups; "Mustang," by a wide margin, came out on top under the heading: "Suitability as Name for the Special Car."[18][19] The name could not be used in Germany,[17] however, because it was owned by Krupp, which had manufactured trucks between 1951 and 1964 with the name Mustang. Ford refused to buy the name for about US$10,000 from Krupp at the time.
Mustangs grew larger and heavier with each model year until, in response to the 1971–1973 models, Ford returned the car to its original size and concept for 1974.
It has since seen several platform generations and designs.
Although some other pony cars have seen a revival, the Mustang is the only original model to remain in uninterrupted production over five decades of development and revision.[20] _______________________________________________________
First generation (1965–1973)
Second generation (1974–1978)
Third generation (1979–1993)
Fourth generation (1994–2004)
Fifth generation (2005–2014)
Sixth generation (2015–present)
1965
1966
1968
My brother had one of those.
The first picture was my first car, except mine wasn’t a convertible. LOVED that car, bought in 1974. Wish I had never sold it, so long ago.
1974
No mention of Lee?
In 1961, Lee Iacocca, vice president and general manager of Ford Division, had a vision. His vision was a car that would seat four people, have bucket seats, a floor mounted shifter, be no more than 180 inches long, weigh less than 2500 pounds, and sell for less than $2500.00. Out of this vision, the Ford Mustang was born. After many months of meetings, discussions and market surveys, funding was finally approved for the Mustang in September of 1962. On March 9, 1964 the first Mustang rolled off of the assembly line.
I remember the first one in our town.
Creel Ford Co. in DeFuniak Springs got one in and everyone had to stop by and look at it.
It was the basic model and I think the price was $2,350. It had the six cylinder and three on the floor.
The thing which people were talking about was the combination of low price and nice looks.
1975
Sorry, all. Gotta run. Will continue the pics in about an hour.
Feel free to add what you want to the thread. I have no time at the moment. Thanks.
Get your butt back and finish this !!!!
New Mustangs are six inches longer and a whopping 1,000 pounds heavier.
My 2nd car was a white ‘66 Mustang coupe with red interior, which came to me in a most unusual way: My brother had totalled my dad’s new Riviera and the insurance co. insisted on rebuilding it which took 6 months...he had no choice. He needed transportation, but only for 6 months.
I suggested he have his used car dealer friend find him a ‘66 Mustang at wholesale, drive it for 6 months, then sell it for a profit. I was shocked that he took my advice - I was a 21 year old college student. But when he got his Riviera back, he kept the Mustang. I kept asking why - he wouldn’t tell me why.
Another 3 months and I found out why. He gave it to me for a graduation gift - with one requirement - I had to give my younger brother my sweet ‘51 Ford Crestliner that I had restored and had been in our family since new.
I almost kept the ‘51 - but realized my new job would require a reliable car I could put many miles on. That was a wonderful car.
Then, my roommate totalled my ‘66 Mustang. My dad’s car dealer friend got me a ‘67 Buick Wildcat convertible! Unrequested, and I not only hated it, I couldn’t afford to put 37 cent gas in it as it had the 454 4-bbl and got 8 mpg.
In Sept. of ‘68, I went to the Ford dealer and sitting on the showroom floor was a new ‘68 Bullitt Mustang fastback, Highland (dark metallic) green, 302 4-bbl. Because the new ‘69’s were coming out in 3 days, the dealer took the Wildcat in trade plus $100! And I had a Bullitt Mustang a month before the movie came out!
I put 100k miles on the car in 3 years! Drove it into the ground to where it was junk as everything was worn out, gave it to a friend who drove it a few years and then junked it.
Boy did I love both those cars. Oh, if I could find a restored ‘68 like mine......
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