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50 YEARS OF THE MUSTANG | HISTORY An American Icon ew cars in history have generated as much excitement, enthusiasm and interest as this Fone: the Ford Mustang. Now, as this legendary pony car reaches its 50th anniver- sary, the full scope of its influ- ence on America’s automotive landscape is being felt and celebrated from coast to coast. Many events are planned for 2014 by Mustang owners, enthusiasts, dealers and the Ford Motor Company itself, marking 50 years since the Mustang was first launched in 1964. Why all the excitement? Because the Mustang has been a thrilling car for generations. STARTING A REVOLUTION Exotic cars have always been around. From the earli- est days of the automobile, big engines, gorgeous styling and sporty performance were available to anyone with a big enough checkbook. But the Mustang has never been an exotic car. What was special about the Mustang in the beginning — and what continues to make it stand out today — is that it first introduced in the 1960s. tive fun meant in America. Mustangs through the years. Mustang’s engineers. They offers a level of style and per- It brought sports-car fun to But it’s also an amazing car found a formula that made formance that millions of the masses, whether through because it influenced the drivers fall in love with their people can actually afford. the affordable V6-powered A CONTINUING whole automotive world in a affordable cars, helping to It offers the thrill of a muscu- base models or the rarer, LEGACY big way. spawn the muscle-car revolu- lar sports car without the high V8-powered Shelby Mustang The Mustang is remarkable Countless cars, not only in tion in the late 1960s and price that sports cars once supercars that feel at home not just because it was a sales America but also around the embracing ideas that contin- commanded, a revolutionary on the racetrack. success. Millions of people world, owe their success to ue to echo through sporty car concept when the ‘Stang was It redefined what automo- have bought and loved their the pioneering work of the designs today. 50 YEARS OF THE MUSTANG | THE LEADERS Who Was Behind It? ee Iacocca became a household name in the 1980s as Chrysler’s very public CEO, turning the company around L financially and personally pitching its cars on TV. But before Iacocca was a Deere in the 1920s, so a corporate celebrity — and, career in engineering for indeed, part of the reason Ford made perfect sense for he was able to find so much the young Frey. success in his career — is When developing the that he is widely known as Mustang in a record amount the father of the Ford of time — 18 months — Frey Mustang. also implemented many ideas that cut production costs for the car and are still EARLY LIFE widely used in the car Born to Italian immi- industry today. grants in Allentown, Pa., in By sharing most of its 1924, Iacocca found a job parts with other mass-pro- with Ford by 1946 and duced Ford models, the quickly found success in the Fairlane and Falcon, the company’s sales and mar- cost of engineering and keting efforts. tooling new parts would be By 1960, he was promoted eliminated. It also shortened to vice-president of Ford’s the learning curve for work- car and truck groups, a role ers on the assembly line and that would lead him to over- the people who would see the creation of a new car repair the Mustang, since designed for younger buyers they were already familiar in the Baby Boom genera- with its components. tion. That car would go on Finally, the Mustang used a to become the Mustang. four-seater design instead of While Iacocca champi- the two-seat layout like the oned the Mustang and was Ford Thunderbird and many responsible for promoting classic sports cars, making and shepherding its initial the Mustang practical development, the day-to- enough to appeal to a much day design of it was over- larger group of buyers. seen by a different man. By the time Iacocca, Frey and the rest of the Mustang DONALD N. FREY team had finished designing Donald Frey was born it, they thought they had a with engineering in his popular car on their hands. blood. His father was a met- Little did they know just allurgist who designed the how popular it would turn Lee Iacocca and Don Frey are pictured with an early Mustang. These two men were instrumental in the Ford Model D tractor for John out to be. Mustang development program in the early 1960s. 50 YEARS OF THE MUSTANG | THE BEGINNING The First Mustang hen it first went on sale, the Ford Motor Company estimated just under 100,000 Mustangs would sell in the first year. But W they were wrong. It turns out the Mustang FOR THE MASSES FRESH STYLE ing roofline and aggressive, quick, enjoyable car to drive sold 418,000 copies in the first The obvious answer is its Going on sale in the sum- muscular nose. in 1964. Its base engine was a year alone, breaking all kinds price. With a suggested retail mer of 1964 — earning it a Many of those same styling V6 that made 101 horsepower, of sales records and wildly price of just $2,368, virtually “1964 1/2” designation since cues would go on to set the but two V8 engines were surpassing everyone’s expec- anyone could afford to buy it, it was unveiled in the middle look and tone for many of the where the real fun was at. tations for the new car. That whereas the more traditional, of the year — the Mustang muscle-cars to come as A 260-cubic-inch V8 made original 100,000 sales target “purist” sports cars were far was an immediate hit with General Motors and Chrysler 164 horsepower, while a was surpassed in just three more expensive and less prac- consumers because it offered responded to the Mustang’s 289-cubic-inch V8 made 210 months. tical then the ‘Stang. so much style for the money. surprise success. horses. And with a more nim- Why, exactly, was this par- The Mustang was about At a time when the 1950s ble feel than most cars from ticular car such a popular more than a low price, though. tail fins had grown out of FUN the era, the new Mustang seller while other sporty Lots of cars have come with style and boxy, square, appealed to a huge number of American cars, like the low price tags through history, slab-sided cars had become PERFORMANCE drivers who wanted a sporty Corvette and Thunderbird, but few resonated with the the norm, the Mustang While it might not sound car. never saw such widespread public as much as this Ford did looked like a lot more fun. It impressive by today’s stan- It was the right car at the appeal? when it was introduced. had a two-door layout, slop- dards, the Mustang was a right time, and it would go on to change the world. 50 YEARS OF THE MUSTANG | SHELBY The King of Cobras lmost from the moment it was introduced, racers began taking the Mustang to the track. From drag strips to road racing, and Aeven serving as the pace car for the 1964 Indianapolis 500, the ‘Stang was the perfect platform to modify for speed. And in all the Mustang’s in the hearts of American car long and glorious racing his- lovers forever. tory, one name stands above Today you can buy a Shelby the rest: Shelby. GT500 that carries on his dream of a quick, powerful monster of a car. It tops the A RACING ICON Mustang lineup with a price As a racing driver, Carroll around $55,000, but it also Shelby would have been offers more speed per dollar known for an exceptional than just about any other car career even if that was all he on the market. accomplished. He set 16 speed records in the U.S. and internationally, drove for the Maserati and Aston Martin factory teams, was Sports Illustrated’s driver of the year for two years and even competed at the pinna- cle of motor racing in Formula One. After Shelby ended his rac- ing career because of health Carroll Shelby stands with the 2007 Ford Shelby GT Mustang. issues, though, he needed to better with American-style V8 with Ford in the 1960s, help- a gigantic V8 engine that was find somewhere else to utilize power. ing with racing projects that tuned to make 306 horsepow- his talents. And what he did He decided to combine the would put Ford cars on the er, the limited-production changed the racing world — two, cramming a Ford small- world stage. Cobra became legendary for and the American car indus- block V8 into a lightweight And his involvement with its speed and excitement. try — for good. sports-car body built by AC in the Mustang would create While the original Shelby Great Britain. It was the start some of today’s most desir- Mustang Cobra was only built FORD of a relationship that would able collector cars: Shelby for five years, today its legacy make Shelby world famous Mustangs. lives on. It inspired countless PARTNERSHIP and influence the direction of Shelby used the same basic other owners to modify their Shelby had a brilliant idea. the Mustang for Ford. formula that made his AC Mustangs for speed and, He knew from his driving Cobra successful in the first starting in 2007, the Shelby Carroll Shelby played a major role experience that lightweight, Mustang he modified, which name returned to the Ford in Ford’s successful racing pro- nimble British sports cars SHELBY became known as the GT350, lineup.

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