Gathering the Reins Celebrating its 60th anniversary, we look back at the remarkable ongoing legacy of the original pony car, the Ford Mustang.
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Like bumping into the lead singer of a Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame band while wearing one of their official tour t-shirts, driving a then-new sixth-generation Ford Mustang on West Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard at its 2014 international launch event soon turned into a yearning for any hint of endorsement from the effortlessly cool-looking owners of the several original Mustangs cruising alongside on this famous route.
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The spiritual home of the Mustang, by the late 1960s around 20 per cent of all units that left the Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan, production line had made their way to the Sunshine State – a fact that led to the creation of the limited-edition California Special (CS/GT) derivatives in 1968. Of course, by this stage, Ford knew what a hit it had on its hands, its initial forecast of shipping up to 400 000 units within the first year of production quickly readjusted after receiving 22 000 orders on the day the car was first unveiled at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
The vision of marketing man Lee Iacocca, the car that would be named after a WWII fighter plane was designed and developed in just 18 months by a team with a mandate to create an “affordable yet stylish, practical yet exciting” package with a fashionable “long nose, short deck” profile. To make this happen within the tight timeframe and a proposed price point of just $2 368, much of the original Mustang’s interior, chassis, suspension and drivetrain was derived from Ford’s existing Falcon and Fairlane projects. While early cars were dubbed 1964½, the first official year of production was 1965, with customers choosing between a convertible and two-door hardtop. A 2+2 Fastback model was soon added.
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Ford would sell a million Mustangs within 18 months of order books opening, the appeal of this vehicle being its head-turning looks, ability to comfortably soak up long distances, relative ease of repair and maintenance, and a burgeoning trend towards customisation and modification – including its engine. Mustang is Ford’s longest-running nameplate, and the world’s best-selling sportscar to date. The 10-millionth example was sold in August 2018.
The Mustang in CAR
In early 1965, Ford Motor Company of South Africa showcased the all-new Mustang during a national roadshow, likely hoping to secure local production rights. Mimicking the car’s stateside reveal, this original pony car drew noteworthy attention with 80 orders placed for the left-hand-drive-only, two-door muscle car in just 10 days. Carrying a special luxury import tax of R1 000, the Poppy-Red Fastback exclusively road tested in the February 1965 issue of this publication retailed for R3 488.
Fitted with a 289 cubic inch (4.7-litre) small block V8 like the one installed in the Ford Galaxie and mated with a four-speed manual transmission, on our test strip the Mustang recorded a 0-60 mph (0-96.6 km/h) sprint time of 8.9 seconds. The testers thought the car could have posted a better time if it had more mileage on the odometer (it had only done 600 miles or 965 km) and was fitted with performance tyres. The test car was featured an optional Rally-Pac that added a 6 000 r/min rev counter and an electric clock to the instrument panel. It also featured a limited-slip differential (a R50 extra). It was noted that an R60 upgrade to disc brakes would have been money well spent as the drum items struggled with heat on the day.
The test further reads; “Using a good balance of throttle and wheel, this light-handling and stable car can be thrown about at will in safety with a bit of practice. Body roll is limited by the low centre of gravity and medium-firm suspension, and behaviour is fully predictable.”
Modern Mustang
As part of the One Ford global strategy, the decision was finally made in 2013 to produce the Mustang in right-hand drive. This meant markets like South Africa would gain access to the sixth-generation car from 2015. Tested in both Convertible and Coupé body styles in our February issue of that year, two things quickly became apparent; one was that our market’s appetite for the original pony car hadn’t waned, and the other was that many owners were surprisingly keen to forgo the flagship model’s V8 powertrain in favour of the more attainable 2.3-litre EcoBoost option if it meant finally owning a Mustang.
While CAR has tested several Mustangs since, including examples fettled by famous tuning houses like Shelby, RTR and Roush, as well as modern special editions like the Mach 1 and CS/GT, for a vehicle that at its core remains a boulevard cruiser, my favourite six-generation Mustang is the Bullitt anniversary edition, complete with its special Highland Green exterior paintwork, black detailing and wheels and cueball manual transmission lever.
The seventh generation
“Investing in another generation of Mustang is a big statement at a time when many of our competitors are exiting the business of internal combustion vehicles,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company at the official reveal of the seventh-generation car.
Set to arrive in South Africa in the coming months, the new model will be available exclusively with a 5.0-litre V8 powerplant, and in Convertible and Coupé body styles. Including evolutionary new styling never destined to stray too far from its successful formula, the new car’s interior introduces a renewed focus on digitisation and improved functionality.
Behind the wheel of the new limited edition Dark Horse derivative for a driving impression in our September 2023 issue, besides the fact that this new flagship model features 372 kW (500 hp) and 567 N.m of torque – and is available with a manual transmission – the most noteworthy outtake from this experience was the attention Ford has paid to broadly sharpening the handling characteristics of the newest Mustang, including a focus on an altogether tauter rear end.
To this end, Ford has taken its sharper new Mustang racing, including a GT3 programme.
Electric avenue
Set to arrive in South Africa in early 2025, the all-electric Mustang Mach-E is Ford’s attempt to harness the popularity and legacy of its Mustang package within a future-focused carbon-neutral solution.
“At the first-ever Detroit auto show, Henry Ford said he was working on something that would strike like forked lightning,” said Bill Ford at the 2019 announcement of the all-electric model. “That was the Model T. Today, the Ford Motor Company is proud to unveil a car that strikes like forked lightning all over again. The all-new, all-electric Mustang Mach-E. It’s fast. It’s fun. It’s freedom. For a new generation of Mustang owners.”
Memory lane
As Mustang celebrates its 60th anniversary, early units that remained in South Africa, such as the pristine 1965 convertible lent to us by Franschhoek Motor Museum for this feature, provide a timely reminder of just how basic yet somehow instantly cool this product remains. Shorter by 17 mm and narrower by 48 mm than our current long-term Toyota Corolla sedan present on the day, the major drawcard in terms of the original Mustang’s packaging was its extended wheelbase (2 743 mm) that allowed for generous levels of rear passenger accommodation, as well as space for luggage.
Sliding onto a comfortable driver’s seat finished in dual-tone leather upholstery and positioned behind the car’s large-circumference, three-spoke steering wheel, more than the sight of the instrumentation with its horizontally orientated speedometer or this model’s delicate-looking automatic transmission lever, my eyes were drawn to the Mustang-branded AM/FM radio neatly integrated into the dash. The sum of many inherited parts that came together to create a design icon, one can only imagine the stir that this car caused once its broadly attainable pricing was announced. At that moment a generation of enthusiasts was born, each dreaming of cruising Sunset Boulevard in a drop-top Mustang, resting an arm on the windowsill and listening to groovy tunes.
Mustang at the movies
From the appearance of a pre-production Wimbledon White convertible with a red interior in the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger, to hero roles in Steve McQueen’s Bullitt and, of course, as Eleanor in 1974’s Gone in 60 Seconds, the Ford Mustang has to date appeared in more than 5 000 films and TV shows, more than any other car make.
Find the full feature in the August issue of CAR Magazine.
