The Ford Mustang
First conceived by Ford product manager Donald N. Frey and championed by Ford Division general manager Lee Iacocca, the Mustang prototype was a two-seat, mid-engine roadster. This would later be remodeled as a four-seat car penned by David Ash and John Oros in Ford's Lincoln–Mercury Division design studios, which produced the winning design in an intramural design contest called by Iacocca. To cut down the development cost and achieve a suggested retail price of US$2,368, the Mustang was based heavily on familiar, yet simple components. Much of the chassis, suspension, and drivetrain components were derived from the Ford Falcon and Fairlane. The car had a unitized platform-type frame, which was taken from the 1964 Falcon, and welded box-section side rails, including welded crossmembers. The Mustang grew larger and heavier with each passing year, culminating with the 1971 to 1973 models that were far different compared to the original 1964 model.
The Mustang had the most successful car launching in automobile history, selling, in its first eighteen months, more than one million cars. The Mustang created the "pony car" class of automobiles — the sports car's "long hood, short deck" design. It spawned competitors, the Camaro, inspired imported coupés, the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri. The Mustang remains in production after four decades-worth of stylistic and technologic revisions.
The Mustang had the most successful car launching in automobile history, selling, in its first eighteen months, more than one million cars. The Mustang created the "pony car" class of automobiles — the sports car's "long hood, short deck" design. It spawned competitors, the Camaro, inspired imported coupés, the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri. The Mustang remains in production after four decades-worth of stylistic and technologic revisions.
