60 years ago today was the debut of the Ford Mustang to the public. https://corporate.ford.com/articles/...rlds-fair.html. It seems like yesterday.

Remember it well, they made a huge production out of it. Weeks of serious publicity were done.

The new car came to the dealerships in the middle of the night. They were then locked away till the official time of release. (A few days) All the dealers had to show the product at the same time and there were lots of curious people waiting for hours just to get the first look.

Being a serious gear head a buddy that worked at the dealership snuck us during the night a couple hours after the dealership closed and we get a very good but unofficial look at the new model.

__________________
14 S&W Revs none with locks!

It is often described as the 1964-1/2 Mustang, but to the factory it was the 1965 model. I had a friend who put his order in for one at the debut. He had to wait several months to get it. I rode in his, and I wasn't impressed. I thought it was just a Ford Falcon with a little snazzier body design. At the time I had a 1962 Galaxie 500 with the 406 engine and 3/2 carbs. That was a real car compared to the toy Mustang. Wish I still had it but there is a sad story about why I don't.

I had one of those, I bought it used in 1967 when I came back from the war. 1965 Ford Mustang convertable manually operated, 289, four on the floor and a rally pack. Dark blue with a black rag top.

__________________
Dogs are better than people.

Yep, except for cosmetics it was the same car as my Dad's 64 Falcon.

Still, a cool car that is now a part of our national consciousness.

__________________
Only a cold warrior

The first one sold in the US was to a Park Ridge, IL woman named Gail Wise, and she still owns it.

Original 1964 Mustang Owner, Gail Wise - Aldan American

__________________
NRA, SWCA #2262

I was a high school freshman at the time. My best friend's older sister was dating the son of the local Ford dealer. She'd take us along when she went to the dealership in the evenings to spend some time with her boyfriend who helped his dad most nights. He'd let us sit in the new Mustangs awaiting space in the showroom and dream about driving one. Talk about that new car smell!

Had a ride in one which was a
promo model lent to the Village
of Palatine, a suburb of Chicago.

__________________
Ubi Est Mea

Great story, thanks.

__________________
Sure you did

Ford did almost exactly the same in Europe in 1968. They took the outgoing MkII Cortina layout from 1966 and put a coupe body on it. Ford wanted to call it the Colt (baby Mustang??) but that name had been registered by Mitsubishi, so they had to call it Capri.

__________________
Release the Kraken

I've always been a fan of the Mustang -- the original pony car. And the only one that's been in continuous production since it was introduced. Back in '65 we would have never imagined that a small block V-8 would be putting out 480 horsepower from the factory like the current Mustang GT.

Happy Mustang Day ! that's me last year only got up to 125 mph

Attached Images

	20230607_174236.jpg (93.4 KB, 45 views)
	20230825_171101 fri stang.jpg (62.9 KB, 49 views)

My relative still owns the one his mother picked up 60 years ago

__________________
Compact 9mm Just my $0.02

Yep…Exactly 7 months and 19 days AFTER the GTO!

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Gail chose wisely. "Skylight Blue" would be the color for me.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

It was named after a WWII US airplane, P51 Mustang not a horse......

__________________
Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

The Plymouth barracuda was selling like hotcakes until the mustang debuted.
It then quickly sold like Brussel sprouts.

Was she a secretary?

I had a '66 that same color, man I wish i kept that car!

My Dad was at the Ford dealer in Philly to pick up his new 1964 Ford Fairlane Sport Coupe a few days before the Mustang unveiling and the salesman asked if he wanted to see the new Mustang. Dad said sure and off they went to where the car was stashed. After looking it over the salesman told Dad if he waited a couple of days he could have the Mustang in place of the Fairlane. Dad thanked him for the offer, but he stuck with the Fairlane. He had gone to a lot of trouble to special order the Fairlane just the way he wanted it (289 w/ 3 Speed Overdrive trans). Dad told me on the Mustang 50th Anniversary that if he had it to do over he’d still take the Fairlane.

__________________
Wheel guns are real guns.

I have an uncle who used to restore vehicles as a hobby. He somehow got ahold of three European spec Mustangs back in the eighties. They were all 69s, all three body styles - coupe, fastback, and convertible. Fully restored to factory new specs. Then he sold them as a set to a collector. I still wish I knew how much he got for them.

Evidently, the Mustang name was already taken in Germany where these were originally sold, so Ford called them T5. If my memory is right, he told me that they produced less than 600 of them in 1969. And I believe he said the convertible was the hardest to find.

__________________
Or something like that . . .

Back in the early 90s a friend was restoring a fairly junky Mustang. I knew that he had to do a lot of searching to find all the original and correct factory parts. Not sure he ever finished the restoration because I moved elsewhere before he was done.

Are you sure? (Pic is of 1965 Mustang logo.)

__________________
Only a cold warrior

From wiki:

Name

A 1969 Ford Mustang Mach I and a P-51 Mustang
Executive stylist John Najjar, who was a fan of the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited by Ford with suggesting the name.[10][11] Najjar co-designed the first prototype of the Ford Mustang known as the "Ford Mustang I" in 1961, working jointly with fellow Ford stylist Philip T. Clark.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] 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".[15][16] The name could not be used in Germany,[14] 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 (equivalent to $98,240 in 2023)[17] from Krupp at the time. Kreidler, a manufacturer of mopeds, also used the name, so Mustangs were sold in Germany as "T-5s" until December 1978.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

well... we just got home from a dinner party to celebrate the Mustangs 60th Birthday... old Mustang club members that have known each other since the 1980's... one gentlemen worked for Shelby back in the day and a few helped Saleen win a racing championship back in the late 80's - the race cars were built local... and some helped our friend Paul Brown chase his racing dreams on his way to a national championship a year before cancer took him way to young... spending time remembering was a great way to end the day...

Attached Images

	FB_IMG_1713324591214.jpg (64.6 KB, 19 views)
	FB_IMG_1713324326590.jpg (81.5 KB, 19 views)
	Screenshot_20231129-061502_Chrome.jpg (67.1 KB, 24 views)
	1621032600642.jpg (24.4 KB, 21 views)

Never was a big Mustang fan. The only one that ever caught my eye was the early "2+2" model. 289 version. My '64 GTO ate all the rest. They always sounded like the exhaust was underwater--and still do.

One of my uncles had a 69 Mach 1 when I was a kid. It ended up totaled after he was rear ended and pushed into the vehicle in front of him. I have an early 65 better know as a 64 1/2 in the car hobby with a 260 V8. I bought it in 1997 and I am the second owner.

Attached Images

101_0118.jpg (224.4 KB, 21 views)

I've had a few over the years. Though I like the looks of the early cars, they're not great to drive. The current Mustang is an excellent GT car, but like most newer cars has become a little bloated. A pony car shouldn't weigh 2 tons!

And they didn't want to compete with Mustang sales, so they sold the Capri as a Mercury in the US. And like the Pantera, the Mercury dealers didn't know what to do with them so they didn't sell well in the US. The Capri was very popular in Europe and had a stellar racing history.

My '71

Craigs 2021 Mach1

__________________
Sure you did

I've still got the red plastic promo model my Dad picked up at the Ford dealership.

And who could forget the 1964-1/2 Mustang in Goldfinger? http://www.ponysite.de/goldfinger_conv.htm

OK......So why do we see all Prancing Ponies on the side panels and steering wheels?
...........not an airplane in sight.......

__________________
S&W Accumulator

Ahhhhhhhhh....the 64 and a half Mustang. Me dad bought one of the first ones in Louisiana. Maroon convertible with black top. I was 8 going on 9 and to me it was the most beautiful car I had ever seen. I was transfixed by the front grille. Alas he totaled it about a year later

__________________
Forum consigliere

After I saw the Mach 1 in a James Bond movie I was in love. Never did get one but, still love that car.

I always wanted one, but life got in the way and I wasn't able to get a Mustang until 1983, when I bought a new Mustang GT. It was a fun car for the time, but I had to sell it when I got divorced. Fast forward many years. When Ford came out with the retro S197 model in 2005, I really liked the styling. I got an '06 GT 5-speed convertible, which I still have. It's a fun car to drive!

Attached Images

IMG_20180222_151703626_HDR~3.jpg (168.4 KB, 138 views)

I longed for one BITD, now out of reach.

‘68 Shelby GT 500 KR convertible.

__________________
Sure you did

My little brother had one.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

Ford’s story is that it was named after the airplane, but I believe that’s media hype. The logo above indicates the truth.

It would seem that the airplane might have inspired the name, but the car was always a “pony”.

It’s almost impossible to market a car that meets collision standards without it being bloated. Camaro, Challenger, Charger all have the same issue.

Let’s see that GT500 convertible John.

__________________
Sure you did

Local grocery store owner bought his mother one of the first 64 1/2 coupes right after he bought his first store. He got it restored a few years ago, and had it on display in the front lobby of his first store. The pictures of it are somewhere on my computers or backups, but I can't find them. I seem to remember it had less than 20,000 miles.

__________________
Heavily armed old man.

Wanted a modern muscle car and the Mustang Bullitt won me over the Challenger and the Camaro, even though I’ve always been a GM guy.
With 480 hp and a six speed manual, I make up places to go just because the car is so much fun to drive.

Edit
Someone please turn this pic around. Don't know why all my pics are sideways, now.

Attached Images

IMG_3998.jpg (88.5 KB, 17 views)

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

Thank you, sir!

I've had a 66, a 69 and this was my 50th birthday present to myself in Nov. 2004. They had just come out with the new retro style and I saw one in St. Louis and thought it was hot. I really wanted a Corvette but couldn't get past the ride or the price tag. Thankfully I bought the Mustang. Turns out 2005 was a bad year for Vettes.

Still have it. This is in front of baseball HOFr Johnny Mize's house in Demorest, GA Christmas Day 2022.

Attached Images

2005 Mustang Johnny Mize 12 25 22 (2).jpg (216.4 KB, 85 views)

__________________
LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

I had a '67 fastback spec'd the same as Bullitt's. Instead of a sad story about how I stupidly let it go, herewith a fun story about pony cars.

The Trans Am racing series started in 1966. Given how popular all the pony cars were, this series became extremely popular. Great racing, no expenses spared, top notch drivers.

Despite their humble economy car origins, these pony cars made extremely capable race cars.

Mark Donohue was one of those extremely intelligent and talented drivers. He drove for Roger Penske, who always ran a first class operation. Needless to say, this team was the scourge of Trans Am racing.

One day Mark Donohue was being interviewed by some of the writers who covered the series. He was asked how cars of such primitive and plebian roots could become such potent race cars.

Donohue replied: "Well, you can't make a race horse out of a pig, but you can make a damn fast pig."

I've poached that one for years, since no has ever said it better.

The mishandling of the Pantera irks me to no end.
Yeah, it was a chronic overheater due to it's exotic mid engine design. If the bottom line would have been worth it, development might have crafted it into a legendary machine

__________________
it just needs more voltage

I have a 1966 and a 2020 Gt.

Attached Images

	IMG_1005.jpeg (130.3 KB, 11 views)
	IMG_0792.jpeg (135.1 KB, 10 views)

__________________
MSG US Army