The Birth of the Ford Mustang

Back in 1961 the vice president and general Manager of the Ford Division, Lee Iacocca had a vision of a new car.

This car would seat four people, be less than 180 inches long, weigh less than 2,500 pounds and sell for under $2,500. It would also have bucket seats and a floor mounted shifter. This was the birth of the idea of the Mustang according to Scott Mead writing in Motor Trend Magazine.

In 1962, after months of meetings, discussions and market surveys, the funding was finally approved. On March 9, 1964, only 18 months after the Mustang had been approved for production, the first Mustang rolled off the assembly line. To keep costs down many of the parts were borrowed from the Falcon including most of the drive train. The Mustang was being offered with many different interior, exterior, and drive train options and could be ordered from plain to fancy and from as economical to as fast as the buyer wished. Due to this it was advertised as "the car to be designed by you".

Ford advertised the Mustang heavily during the latter part of its development. For instance they previewed the show room model at a January 1964 press conference, but the information was under an "embargo," meaning reporters weren't supposed to go public with it until Ford gave the word. That didn't keep reporters from engaging in "informed speculation" and it didn't keep Ford from leaking information -- which Ford did.

With Mustang's debut set for early 1964, Ford marketers shifted into overdrive to get the public ready. For example Time Magazine reported on March 13, 1964, that on March 11, Walter Buhl Ford II, nephew of Chairman Henry Ford II, drove an undisguised convertible to downtown Detroit. Fred Olmstead, auto editor for the Detroit Free Press, spotted it and called photographer Ray Glena. A number of publications quickly picked up Glena's pictures -- just like Ford planned.

As the launch of the 1965 Ford Mustang approached, Ford was confident its new sporty car was on target. Its job now was to let the country know about this new kind of car. The introduction of what popularly would be known as the 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang was a huge and brilliant marketing blitz. America had never seen anything like it.

The weeks leading up to Mustang's debut saw big stories in all sorts of places: Business Week, Esquire, Life, Look, Sports Illustrated, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal -- and, of course, almost every car magazine. The publicity blitz didn't end there. All the print and TV advertising insured that almost everyone in America knew the Mustang had arrived. Ford also stirred up the public's interest with all kinds of promotions and events.

One of the big promotions was getting Mustang named pace car for the 1964 Indy 500 according to Jim Smart and Jim Haskell writing in Mustang Monthly. A white convertible with blue dorsal racing stripes led the field on Memorial Day. Ford built another 35 ragtops and 195 hardtops all painted the same way. The convertibles were sold, but the hardtops were given away in dealer-sponsored contests.

Finally, it was time to unveil the Mustang. On April 16, 1964 Ford presented its new baby to some 29 million TV viewers, buying the 9 p.m. slot on all three networks.

The next day one of the most significant car launches in history took place at the New York World's Fair on April 17,

1964. That morning, 2600 newspapers ran announcement ads and articles while the Mustang was revealed to opening-day visitors at the fair. Millions learned of the new kind of car for a new sort of driver.

That same day people mobbed the Ford showrooms. Everyone wanted to be one of the first to own the Mustang. Over 22,000 Mustangs were sold the first day. Ford had sold 263,434 by the end of the year and 418,812 by the Mustang's first anniversary, April 17, 1965. The Mustang had made a name for itself, and it was here to stay according to the Auto Editors Of Consumer Guide as reported in HowStuffWorks where much of the information and statistics for this article was found.

Sources:

Motor Trend http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/classic/112_0210_pre/index.html

HowStuffWorks http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1966-ford-mustang.htm

Mustang Monthly http://www.mustangmonthly.com/thehistoryof/mump_0206_1964_ford_mustang_indy_500_pace_car/index.html

Time http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828277,00.html