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Ford
Mustang
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The Mustang was designed by
Ford in the early 60’s to try to produce a car that was fast and
affordable. By this time the Thunderbird and the Corvette had most of
the American sports car market, however these cars were starting to
become too expensive for the average person. The Mustang was build to
try to get the sports car image to the common man.
The Mustang made its debut on
April 14, 1964 at the World’s Fair in New York City. There were a
wide variety of options in both the convertible and the coupe for
around $2,300. The reaction was more than Ford could hope for and the
dealers could not get enough. On April 17, the first day the cars
were offered to the public, more than 22,000 cars were sold at or
above retail price. In the beginning, Ford had estimated that about
100,000 Mustangs would be sold in the first year, however this mark
was reached in the first four months. The final sales total for the
first year was around 681,000 cars, a first year’s sales total
record. The Mustang reached the one million mark by March of 1966.
This is an even more impressive sales record considering that there
were only two body styles (the coupe and the convertible) until
September of ’66. It was then that the fast back was added in.
The first big change in
Mustangs came in 1968 when the Mustang started to be threatened by
the more powerful GM and Chrysler cars. This resulted in the widening
of the body in order to accommodate a larger engine. There were also
a few cosmetic changes like the deletion of the F-O-R-D emblem off of
the hood. 1968 also saw many new government safety regulations like
side marker lights and a energy absorbing steering column. In 1969
the Mach Is were introduced. Because of the popularity of the Mach
Is, the GT died out and was not resurrected for several years. There
were basically only cosmetic changes to the Mustang until the 1971
model year. The body was once again changed to accommodate a once
again larger engine (the 429 Cobra Jet engine). This model also came
for the first time with optional power windows.
Though Ford changed the Mustang
in ’71 to accommodate the bigger and more powerful engines, they had
to drop most of them in ‘72 because of the fuel and energy crises.
The only “performance” car that survived ’72 was the Mach I. 1973 saw
the last year for the first generation of the Mustang as well as the
last year for the convertible for quite some time. By 1974 the energy
crises was too much for Ford and they were forced to build a lighter
and more efficient car after ’73.
1974 saw one of the most
dramatic changes in the Mustang that there ever was. The Mustang II
was very much down-sized as compared to the original modal. Many
Mustang traditionalists saw it as a glamorized Pinto (which is the
car on which the new Mustang actually was based). Even though Motor
Trend named the ‘74 Car of the Year, the “dwarf Mustang” only lasted
four years.
The third generation of
Mustangs came in 1979 with the new Fox Mustang. The car was designed
to be consumer friendly with a European type of look to it. The Fox
(the code name of the new Mustang project) was given the same
dimensions as the original 1964 Mustang. The Mustang designers gave
it a much more streamlined look than the Mustang IIs had. The 80’s
also saw the reintroduction of the GT’s. Many of the “Backyard
Mechanics” liked the GT because of its performance and because of its
ease to work on without a great deal of knowledge. Popularity of the
Mustang once again picked up and very few changes to the Mustang were
made during this time.
The Mustang has made its last
big change in 1994 with the newly redesigned Mustang (code name
SN-95). The new Mustang was unveiled at the Texas State Fair in
Dallas in October of 1993. The new Mustang (with a lot of media
publicity as well as a strong advertising campaign) became one of the
most popular Mustangs produced. Since then few changes have taken
place with the exception of the 1999 model year with another slightly
changed Mustang. The Mustang is still going strong and no end is in
sight. It will continue to be one of the most popular and collected
American cars of all time.
This Mustang
Circuit site is
owned by Scott.
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