Speed Read Mustang

The History, Design and Culture Behind Ford's Original Pony Car

Donald Farr

• Publisher: Motorbooks
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780760360422
• eBook ISBN: 9780760364420
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Automotive Transportation & Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Motorbooks' Speed Read series celebrates every aspect of the original pony car—the Ford Mustang—from the key people like Lee Iacocca and Carroll Shelby to the racing success to the cars themselves.

Get a full look at every iconic Mustang model, from the first car to bear the name that became the fastest selling car of all time, to the astounding 526-horsepower supercar Mustang produces today.

In sections divided by topic, you'll explore the design and launch of the first Mustang at the 1964 World's Fair; a history of every generation of Mustang; the various body styles, options, and accessories; a review of the performance models; a profile of Carroll Shelby and the Mustangs he designed; special editions, like the Sprint, ASC/McLaren, and police pursuit vehicles; and, of course, the Mustang's racing legacy.

Each section ends with a glossary of related terms, and informational sidebars provide fun facts, historical tidbits, and mini-bios of key people in Mustang history. Sleek illustrations showcase Mustangs in their many forms.

With Motorbooks’ Speed Read series, become an instant expert in a range of fast-moving subjects, from Formula 1 racing to the Tour de France. Accessible language, compartmentalized sections, fact-filled sidebars, glossaries of key terms, and event timelines deliver quick access to insider knowledge. Their brightly colored covers, modern design, pop art–inspired illustrations, and handy size make them perfect on-the-go reads.

THE LAUNCH

Lee Iacocca

Fairlane Committee

Design Contest

Plane or Horse?

Marketing and Advertising

World’s Fair Intro

Sales Frenzy

Indy Pace Car

Baby Boomers

Glossary

THE LAUNCH

LEE IACOCCA

The son of Italian immigrants, Lee Iacocca went to work for Ford in 1946, starting with a sales job at a Pennsylvania assembly plant. But he had a much bigger career goal—he planned to reach company vice president by the age of 35.

Iacocca strategically worked his way up the ladder, moving into a sales manager position for the East Coast, then assistant district manager. His clever “$56-a-month for a ’56 Ford” marketing program led to a promotion and relocation to Dearborn to manage Ford’s truck marketing, resulting in record truck sales and yet another promotion into car marketing. In November 1960, Henry Ford II promoted Iacocca to vice president and general manager of Ford Division. Iacocca was 36.

As the top manager of Ford, Iacocca had the horsepower to pursue a hunch, shared by others at Ford, that a new vehicle would appeal to the Baby Boomer generation as they came of age in the mid-1960s. And he knew very well that Chevrolet was selling more of its Corvair, originally an economy car, by offering a sportier Monza model with bucket seats, stick shift, and upgraded interior trim. There was nothing like it in the Ford lineup.

Iacocca realized that economy-based Falcons and boxy Fairlanes weren’t the answer. He predicted that, as Baby Boomers matured and reached driving age during the 1960s, the huge youth market would crave sports-car styling and performance combined with the practicality of four seats and a usable trunk. Selling the concept to company President Henry Ford II, who was still reeling from 1958–60 Edsel failure, would be the challenge.

To convince the man whose name was on the building, Iacocca needed a team to help him gather conclusive data. And they had to do it without anyone finding out.

KEY PERSON

Ford product planning manager Don Frey was among the first at Ford to acknowledge the coming-of-age Baby Boomer generation as a future market opportunity. “I realized we were sitting on a powder keg,” he said.

BY THE NUMBERS

79 million: Number of births in the United States between 1946 and 1964

FUN FACT

In 1962, Ford debuted a two-seater sports car concept to showcase futuristic ideas like mid-engine design, aerodynamic aluminum body, four-wheel independent suspension, and rack-and-pinion steering. Those components would eventually find their way into future Fords. So would the name—Mustang.

THE LAUNCH

FAIRLANE COMMITTEE

To convince Henry Ford II that Ford needed a new car for the upcoming Baby Boomer generation, Lee Iacocca pulled together a hand-selected think tank of Ford managers representing engineering, styling, product planning, market research, racing, public relations, and advertising. Iacocca would lead the group, which would initially meet twice a month in an attempt to identify a market that could lead to a concept for a new vehicle. To avoid alerting Henry Ford II, the first meetings were held in a private conference room at the Fairlane Inn, a hotel on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn. The clandestine group became known as the “Fairlane Committee.”

Ford car marketing manager Chase Morsey was assigned to market research. His digging confirmed that the oldest Baby Boomers would reach car-buying age in the mid-1960s, a time when more than half of projected new-car sales would be purchased by buyers between the ages of 18 and 34. Morsey’s surveys also determined that this youthful segment was not intrigued by the traditional styling favored by their parents. They wanted bucket seats, four-on-the-floor shifting, and styling that represented a certain image. Additionally, a booming economy meant that families could add a second car for the wife or teen driver.

Time was of the essence. Noted Iacocca, “We’d hit on such a good thing that we had to get moving before somebody else could come along and beat us to it!”

By late 1961, the Fairlane Committee had determined that there was indeed a market for a new Ford car. They established a list of goals: four-passenger with a sizable trunk, 2,500-pound weight limit, retail price under $2,500, long hood and short rear deck styling, one basic car with many available options, and a target introduction date of April 1964 at the New York World’s Fair.

TOP QUOTE

“We got everyone off-campus. It was like doing a prototype and not telling anyone!” —Lee Iacocca

FUN FACT

There’s a common misconception that Lee Iacocca established the Fairlane Committee to create the Mustang. In truth, the purpose of the Fairlane Committee skunk-works was to identify a market for a new car, which eventually became the Mustang.

BY THE NUMBERS

14: Consecutive weeks of meetings by the Fairlane Committee before determining a market for new sporty compact car

THE LAUNCH

DESIGN CONTEST

Bolstered by the Fairlane Committee’s findings, Iacocca pushed forward with the idea of a sporty compact. He realized that developing a totally new car was an expensive proposition, at the time costing upwards of $400 million, a scenario that would be surely rejected by Henry Ford II. Special Projects Assistant Hal Sperlich came up with the solution—build the new car on the Falcon’s already existing chassis, drivetrain, and suspension to save both time and money. It was a brilliant no-brainer.

But before Iacocca could approach Henry Ford II with an official proposal, he needed a design, something in clay, to plead his case to make the investment into a new sporty compact. But time was running out. Less than twenty-eig...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Section 1: The Launch
• Section 2: Generations
• Section 3: Every Man’S Sports Car
• Section 4: Performance
• Section 5: Shelby
• Section 6: Special Editions
• Section 7: Racing
• Index
• Copyright