The Legend of Ford Mustang!

The date was April 17, 1964. Intermediate sized muscle cars, with big block engines were gradually replacing the fullsized muscle car. Lee Iacocca, Ford's General Manager, had always invisioned a small sports car to be the next hot item in the street wars. Ford decided that instead of improving their lackluster intermediate, they would do the competition one better and introduce a whole new breed of automobile, the pony car. Originally designed as a two seater in the European tradition, Iacocca realized that true success depended on volume sales.The Mustang I was an experimental mid-engined, two seated sports car aimed at the Triumph/MG market.Since it was impossible to build a prototype very rapidly in Detroit, Ford contracted the job to specialist builder Trautman and Barnes in Los Angeles. Planned around a wheelbase of 85 - 90 inches, Mustang I had an engine of 1.5 - 2.0 litres in a steel tube frame covered by a stressed skin aluminium body. An integral rollbar and fixed seats added rigidity. Although the seats didn't adjust, the pedals and steering did, mounting on a sliding box member that allowed positioning to suit any driver.Roy Lunn (product planner) and Herb Misch (engineer) devised the Mustang I's four wheel independent suspension, then an uncommon feature in Detroit. All shocks and springs were adjustable for ride height and firmness. Steering was rack and pinion, just 2.9 turns lock-to-lock with a tight turning circle of 30 feet. It's engine was also unusual: a 60 degree V4 displacing 1927cc. For the Mustang I it was tuned up to 90 BHP at 6500 RPM, breathing through a single throat Solex carburettor. The competition version used two twin throat side draft Webber carbs and crossover manifold for over 100 BHP. Mustang I was fitted with a four speed transaxle, it's brakes were front disks with rear drums and it's 13 inch magnesium wheels from Lotus England were shod with Pirelli radial-ply tyres. Mustang I was 154 inches long (40 inches high with 5 inches road clearance), rode a 90 inch wheel base, and spanned front/rear tracks of 48/49 inches. A curb weight of under 1200 pounds meant thrilling performance despite the small engine: Top speed was approximately 120 MPH. A low sloping nose housing the spare tyre left little room for a radiator and ductwork, so a pair of diagonally mounted radiators flanked the engine, each with a thermostatically controlled fan. The 13 gallon aluminium fuel tank had a racing style 'Quick Fill' neck.The Mustang I made it's public debut at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, New York on October 1962, where it was driven around the circuit by race driver Dan Gurney. Car and Driver' tested the car in 90 BHP form and found it's 0 - 60 MPH acceleration was about 10 seconds, yet fuel economy was high at 30 MPG. As expected of mid-engined cars, handling was excellent.Exciting as it was, the Mustang I was a false start. Enthusiasts raved, but Lee Iacocca carefully watched general reaction and shrugged. "All the car buffs said, 'Hey what a car!' but when I look at who's saying it - the offbeat crowd, the real buffs - I said 'That's sure not the car we want to build, because it can't be a volume car. It's too far out.'"Therefore the Ford Mustang was introduced as a 1965 model that was based on the compact Falcon to lower production costs. It came with an obligatory back seat and a multitude of options that would give the buyer an opportunity to customize their purchase, and generate extra profits for Ford. Plymouth faithful stress that their Baracuda beat the Ford Mustang to market by two weeks. But it was the Mustang, which racked up over 22,000 sales its first day and one million sales in its first two years, that turned the market and people's attention to the pony car. The pony car class that the Ford Mustang helped create is the only class of muscle car that still exists today.