There’s That Mustang

by Falcon McCluer

There are times, in rare instances, that a fad turns a corner and becomes something more. The Beatles are a good example of this phenomenon. They invaded U.S. soil with their long hair and rock music. Many parents hoped that they were a fad that would eventually fade away, but instead, the Beatles went on to influence music for decades. The Beatles became a cultural icon and set the pace for rock music, as we now know it.

The Ford Mustang is another cultural icon. It was one of the first muscle cars and it raised the bar when it came to performance and handling. The unveiling of the Ford Mustang in April, 1964 sent other car manufacturers scrambling to create their own versions of high performance cars, but the Pony car was in a class by itself. The Ford Mustang did for cars what the Beatles did for rock music - it set a standard by which all other muscle cars would be compared.

From the moment that the Ford Mustang rolled off the production line, it was America’s sweetheart. The Ford Mustang launch is considered one of the most successful product launches in automotive history. The unveiling created considerable excitement among the American pubic.

Within the first 18 months, more than one million Ford Mustangs were sold. This serves to a testament of the effectiveness of Ford’s promotional campaign of the Mustang. With this wild success also came legends. There were stories of men sleeping in their Mustangs at the dealership while waiting for their checks to clear, sometimes for several days.

The genius of Ford’s marketing campaign is considered one of the most profitable in history. The day before unveiling the Mustang, Ford ran Mustang commercials on the three major networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, at 9:30 p.m. The buzz that was generated propelled consumers into a buying frenzy on April 17, 1964 and for the two years following the unveiling, which occurred at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York.

The Ford Pavilion housed the unveiling. When Henry Ford II introduced Walt Disney’s Magic Skyway ride he also introduced the Mustang. On the ride, the guests rode in Ford vehicles as they rode through history.

Early Mustangs were available with four engine options. One was the 289 cubic inch High Performance V 8. That bad boy kicked it with 271 horses. As word go out, dealerships were overwhelmed with people who wanted to be among the groundbreakers who owned a Ford Mustang.

History was made as a Wimbledon White convertible rolled off the production line and became the very first Mustang. It had a 260 cubic inch V 8. The now historic VIN was 5F08F100001. The car toured the United States, acting as a promotional tool for Ford until an airline captain from Canada, Stanley Tucker, acquired it.

Mustang 5F08F100001 spent some time in Canada with captain Tucker, but then in 1966 the executive director of the Henry Ford Museum, Donald Shelly, requested acquisition of it. Shelly stated in a letter that it was believed that the Ford Mustang would become a milestone car in the automotive industry. It was believed, he stated, that other car makers would use the Ford Mustang as a standard of measure and it would set the tone for other high performance, high power cars. They were right.

About the Author:

Ford Mustang History is a dedicated site to the history of the Ford Mustang. All the facts you always needed to know about this American Muscle Car superstar.