Is there any car more exciting than the classic Ford Mustangs? It may be the most collected muscle car in history. Learn how a simple dream transformed the American automotive world.
For most car collectors, the Mustang is thought of to be one of the best. But what transpired to make this happen? Well, it all commenced back in spring of 1964. Ford’s General Manager, Lee Iacocca, always had the idea of building a medium sized sports car and proclaiming it as the next champion in street wars. But Ford decided to go for broke and conceive a brand new kind of car. What resulted of Iacocca’s initial concept is the “Pony Car”. It was designed, initially, as a two-passenger taken from the European-style, but a business-minded Iacocca knew that the future of this new model banked on volume sales. Thus the design was refined further and the Ford Mustang was modeled after the Falcon, which was compact in design, so that assembly costs could be shaved. This new vehicle was originally named P-51, the namesake of the infamous fighter plane. But, quite a number of similarities were made to the Mustang, a type of equine and it eventually became both symbol and theme to the cars. True to its namesake, the Mustang sold 22,000 units on the very first day of it's introduction and went on to sell a million more within the next few years thus gaining the regard of both the industry and car enthusiasts during that time.By the time 1966 rolled around, the Mustang was developed yet again. They modified the design of the instrument panel to distinguish the Mustang from the Falcon. The 260 cid V8 was also replaced with 2 and 4 barrel types of the 289 cid V8. A year later, a 100 % rejuvenation transpired in the design of the Mustang, these alterations include a thicker sheet metal below its belt line, a more menacing grille, a hollow tail panel, and a fastback roof line for the fastback design of the vehicle’s body. These 1967 Shelby’s were more perfected in terms of design. There was a greater focus on luxury equipment options. The 1967 Shelby’s were the final design of the Shelby-American Company. Every model subsequent were manufactured by Ford with minimal involvement for Shelby. In 1968, the Mustang underwent some more changes. The grille was altered into something simpler and its 427 engines were detuned but even still, they were more than able to get people’s eye when motoring down the avenues. Also in the same year Ford introduced what was to be their greatest engine ever. The 428 Cobra Jet, as it was called, was said to have an output of 410 bhp. The Shelby’s were still in production and a new design, a convertible, was also made available. This convertible design was called the Shelby Cobra.Through the subsequent years of 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973 more modifications were done to the original Mustang blueprint. In 1969, the Shelby’s that were produced became more noted for being a luxury car. The Boss Mustangs were also unveiled the same year. These Boss Mustangs were made to qualify for the NASCAR races. By 1970, the public still preferred the Cobra engine to the other engines that were coming out during that time. By 1971, Ford’s many years of being a complete performance vehicle were ending. This would also be the only year that Ford’s performance was considered to be weakening. In 1973, several blunders and changes in the rules forced alterations to the design of the Mustang as well. This time, what used to be a car built for high performance premiered a new model, the Mustang II, with no claims to anything as marvelous as what its predecessors had been.
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