9781422273951

CHAPTER FORD MUSTANG

I t is likely that General Motors, Chrysler, and AMC executives assured each other that it would never work when Ford launched its Mustang during April 1964. After all, the Mustang was neither one thing nor the other. It was American-made but without the comfort or space of a full-sized Detroit sedan. It was styled like a sports car but had none of the nimble responsiveness of an MG or Porsche. In any case, who in their right minds would pay extra for what was basically a run-of-the-mill Ford Falcon, but with less room for people and shopping? They were convinced that the traditional American car buyer would not like it (it’s too small and looks too radical) and that neither would the sports car fanatics (it’s too big for those guys), or so hoped the rival manufacturers. How wrong they were. Twelve months later, the news arrived that Ford had sold an incredible 419,000 Mustangs in its first year, a new first-year sales record for Detroit. Less than two years after the launch, the

When the Mustang was first launched, its critics had doubts about it. How wrong they were.

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