|
| |
Pre-Mustang
The history of the Mustang dates
back to 1955 with the "Horsepower Wars" between the Ford Thunderbird
and Chevrolet's Corvette.
|
|
|
|
1955 Thunderbird |
1955 Corvette |
From 1955 to 1957, the Thunderbird was designed as a
two-seater with a steel body, roll-up windows and a easier to lower/raise convertible
top. Early Corvette's were seen as a novelty since the body was made of
fiberglass, side plastic curtains and a hard to lower/raise convertible top. In
the inaugural year of the Thunderbird, it out sold the Corvette - 16155 to
700.
In 1958, Ford strayed from it
original 2 seat design to incorporate a backseat. This was done to capture a
larger untapped market and created the "personal luxury" car. This
design was dubbed the "Square Bird".
|
|
|
1958 Thunderbird (Square Bird) |
Although it deviated from the 2
seat design, units for this vehicle doubled year after year, but it left Ford
without a legitimate performance car. The Corvette was redesigned in 1956 which
helped shed its' "Novelty" image and started a Legend of its' own that
continues to grow today. This gap in Fords product line lost the youth market to
Corvette's and Impalas.
In 1960, the compact car market
was growing mainly due to the success of the Volkswagen Beetle. Ford introduced
the Falcon while Chrysler and GM introduced compact cars of their own, Dodge
Lancer, Plymouth Valiant and the Chevrolet Corvair, though the Falcon sold
better than the competition. On the other hand, the Corvair seemed to appeal to
the youth market with its bucket seats and floor-mounted shifter. The Corvair
Monza was subsequently introduced which sparked Chevrolet's sales. This shift in
the market was noticed by Ford, particularly, Lee Iacocca.
|
|
|
1960 Corvair |
Lee Iacocca saw that the
departure of the two-seat Thunderbird left a gap in Fords product line, but knew
that this market was limited. His idea was to develop a vehicle with a back seat
that appeared to be a "Sporty Two Seater". His challenge was to sell
his idea to the upper management. His problem was the bad experience Ford
encountered with the Edsel. Ford spent hundreds of millions of dollars in market
research to bring the Edsel to market and failed.
|
|
|
1959 Edsel |
The last thing Ford wanted was
to invest $300 to $400 millions more in market research in another car that
would fail. To circumvent this capital investment, Iacocca developed his idea
based upon the Falcon platform.
1961 Falcon 4 Door
|
63 Falcon Sprint Hardtop
|
1964 Falcon Sprint Convertible |
1965 Falcon Futura 2 Door |
This would result in development and market
research costs of only $75 million. Ford bought the idea and the MUSTANG
was born.
|
|
The 1962 Mustang
II Concept Car. The
Mustang II had a V4 with 109 horsepower at 6,400 rpm's and weighed 1,148
pounds. Two radiators. one in each of the rear fenders, cooled the engine.
This vehicle is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,
Michigan. |
|
