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MUSTANG: The Pony Has Grown Into a Thoroughbred
Written by: Wouter Melissen
UltimateCarPage.com   http://www.ultimatecarpage.com
11/17/2008
Charlotte, North Carolina
 
There is nothing like a scenic ride in a Mustang Convertible. (Photo: UltimateCarPage.com) ยป More Photos

Derived from the Spanish word 'mestengo,' a Mustang is a small, hardy horse of the American plains. It’s also very accurate description of one of the most iconic machines ever to come out of Motown: the Ford Mustang. The Mustang name and famed running horse badge was first used for an advanced concept car shown during the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in October of 1962.

With a mid-mounted V4 engine installed, it had little to do with the eventual production Mustang, but it did reveal Ford's desire to build a proper sports car. That was something that Henry Ford had always fiercely opposed. After the relatively successful and much missed Ford Thunderbird built between 1955 and 1957, this would be the Blue Oval's second attempt to enter the sports car market.

The spiritual father of the Mustang was Lee Iacocca, who joined Ford as Division General Manager in 1960. Iacocca looked at the hugely popular small European sports cars and the domestically produced Corvette with envy, and reckoned that Ford could build a car with the same looks and similar dynamics of the Corvette for about half the price. This would put an American sports car in reach of the very desirable group of 15-29 year olds – a market segment that couldn’t afford the Corvette.

Iacocca played around with many ideas about the specifics of the new model, with his most extreme ideas resulted in the Mustang I concept
car. Not surprisingly a much more conventional approach was chosen for the eventual production car. Another one of Iacocca's projects, the V8 engined Falcon Futura, would play an important role in the formation of the Mustang.

At the 1963 US Grand Prix Ford rolled out a second Mustang show car. Except for the name and badging, it had little in common with the original concept launched a year earlier. Penned by in-house stylist Joe Oros, the two-door Mustang II sported a very angular design. Under the brand new body were many familiar components, which were taken straight from the Falcon Futura. Using so many off the shelve components ensured that the costs of the Mustang could be kept well down.

Check out the History of the Mustang Photo Album

See the 2010 Mustang Teaser Photos

Read about how SPEED to Unveil 2010 Mustang

Get More Information about the Mustang Reveal

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