There was never anything like it before April 17, 1964.  The 2-seat crowd had no choices at Ford since the small Thunderbird had been discontinued in 1957.  The only other choices were either foreign or made of plastic.  Unfortunately, those end-of-war babies who loved traditional ‘sports cars,’ now had babies of their own, and a 2-seater was out of the question, yet they were not completely satisfied with a 4-door ‘blandmobile.’  Many of the parents of these end-of-war babies were now free of the child-rearing burdens, and considered themselves too young for 4-door ‘blandmobiles.’  As a result, the market was over-ripe for a car which could be used for daily transportation chores and, at the same time, has a sporty flair. In late 1961 a ‘car guy’ named Lacocca, who worked at Ford Motor Company, saw the need for such a car.  He began on a concept vehicle which would, ultimately become the most successful new model ever introduced by any automobile manufacturer: the 1964 Mustang.

 To save on developmental expenses and to keep the consumer cost down, the mustang utilized a Falcon chassis, with Falcon and Fairline suspension components and powertrains.  A sleek new body, in convertible and 2-door coupe styles, were the only two choices and were based on the Mustang I and Mustang II show cars of 1962 and 1963.  Perhaps the best news for the general public was that the Mustang carried a base price of just $2368, right in the ball park for a young married couple with a baby.  Ford had only expected to sell 100,000 of the 1964 Mustangs, yet at the end of the 8-month made year 126,538 of the little ‘pony cars’ had found new homes.  By official end of model run December of 1965, some 680,989 Mustangs had been built, a record which stands today.

 The most appealing feature of the Mustang was that it could be equipped for everything from grocery-getting to all-out racing, merely by checking the appropriate box on the option order sheet.

 The 271-horsepower 289 Mustang would cut 7.6 second 0-60 times, and 15.6 quarter-mile times.  No rocket to be sure, but not bad for a ‘family car.’  It didn’t make any difference that the performance was not on par with the other ‘muscle cars,’ the public bought every Mustang Ford could build.

 As a result of this overwhelming success, the early Mustang is currently enjoying status among collectors as the single most sought after collectable on the mark

If you have a classic mustang and require either replacement parts, servicing or restoration services please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01274 688 968

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