Ford Mustang

Ford Mustang History

There was a long standing competition between the Ford Motor Company and the Chevrolet division of General Motors.  Both companies sold to the same target market.  In the late 1950s, the only American sports car was the Corvette which was priced too high for most buyers.  The two-seater Thunderbird had evolved into a four-seater luxury car. 

Chevrolet launched the Corvair Monza because people wanted a cheap, compact car.  Ford’s answer to the Corvair was the Falcon.  The Corvair sold considerably well due to the fact that the Falcon did not have the image nor the character of the Corvar.

As the 1960's arrived, the families of World War II veterans were maturing into wealth and creating a new generation which would be called the Baby Boomers.  Within a few years the post-war Baby Boomers would be buying their first cars.  Ford market researchers felt they could catch both the parents of Baby Boomers and then the Boomers themselves with sportier offerings.  At this time, European inspired sports cars were selling extremely well in the U.S.

Ford needed a brand new car, a car with a sporty image, a car to be wanted by the young the old and everyone in between.  On April 13, 1964, the Mustang was introduced at the New York World's Fair as the 1965 model.  The Mustang almost immediately took on a life of its own.  Ford was unaware of how popular the car would be.  With Ford's marketing team, the Mustang was the cover story in both Time and Newsweek.  Ford announced when the first television commercial would be shown and 29 million people tuned in to see it.  The television ads were shown on almost every channel throughout the day.  Readers and viewers liked what they saw, especially when it was linked to a reasonable price of just $2,368.  The next day, the first day of availability, Ford sold 22,000 Mustangs.

The competition, primarily from the rushed-to-market Chevrolet Camaro, began to take its toll on Mustang sales, but the model had already made its mark.