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Ford Mustang (1st Generation)

Ford Mustang (1st Generation)

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Return to Ford Mustang Wikipedia: Ford Mustang (first generation) Subtopics 1965, 1966, 1967, T-5 Page Sections History Reference Desk Video Images Documents Merchandise Articles

The first generation of Ford Mustang was produced for model years 1964½–1973. On 2 March 1966 the one millionth Ford Mustang was produced.

A first generation red Ford Mustang appears on the cover of the 2016 book Car Dancing by Debi Coccellato.
A first generation red Ford Mustang convertible, on a highway underneath a sign for Interstate 95 to Richmond, appears on the cover of the 2016 book The Four Loves of Alyssa: The Love Story of Renewal by Curtis Bowers.
A red first generation Ford Mustang convertible appears on the cover of the 2017 book Never My Love by Delores Miles.

History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Ford Mustang (first generation) page on 3 August 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The first-generation Ford Mustang was manufactured by Ford from March 1964 until 1973. The introduction of the Mustang created a new class of automobile known as the pony car. The Mustang’s styling, with its long hood and short deck, proved wildly popular and inspired a host of imitators.

It was initially introduced as a hardtop and convertible with the fastback version put on sale in August 1965. At the time of its introduction, the Mustang, sharing its underpinnings with the Falcon, was slotted into a compact car segment.

With each revision, the Mustang saw an increase in overall dimensions and in engine power. The 1971 model saw a drastic redesign to its predecessors. After an initial surge, sales were steadily declining, as Ford began working on a new generation Mustang. With the onset of the 1973 oil crisis, Ford was prepared, having already designed the smaller Mustang II for the 1974 model year. This new car had no common components with preceding models.

Conception and styling

As Lee Iacocca's assistant general manager and chief engineer, Donald N. Frey was the head engineer for the Mustang project — supervising the development of the Mustang in a record 18 months from September 1962 to March 1964. — while Iacocca himself championed the project as Ford Division general manager.

Drawing on inspiration from the mid-engined Ford Mustang I concept vehicle, Lee Iacocca ordered development of a new "small car" to vice-president of design at Ford, Eugene Bordinat. Bordinat tasked Ford's three design studios (Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, and Advanced Design) to create proposals for the new vehicle.

The design teams had been given five goals for the design of the Mustang: It would seat four, have bucket seats and a floor mounted shifter, weigh no more than 2,500 pounds (1,100 kg) and be no more than 180 inches (4,572 mm) in length, sell for less than $2,500, and have multiple power, comfort, and luxury options.

The Lincoln–Mercury design studio ultimately produced the winning design in the intramural contest, under Project Design Chief Joe Oros and his team of L. David Ash, Gale Halderman, and John Foster.

Reference Desk

The Crittenden Automotive Library's "Reference Desk" is a collection of materials that cannot be shared due to copyright restrictions. Information from these resources, however, can be shared. Go to the Reference Desk page for more information.

Type	Title
1996 Book	Mustangs: 1965-1973 by Richard Langworth; Motor Racing Publications
1998 Book	Mustang: An American Classic by Nicky Wright; Todtri Productions
2001 Book	Standard Catalog of Mustang 1964-2001 by Brad Bowling, Krause Publications

Video

2012 Mecum Fall Premier Auction: 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Fastback
October 26, 2012
Duration: 1:37
Video ©2012 Bill Crittenden

for $36,000 at the Mecum 2012 Fall Premier Auction
Download 2012 Mecum Fall Premier Auction: 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Fastback at The Internet Archive

Images

	Photo by "Barahonasoria" Taken 2005 View photo of Ford Mustang Emblem - 279KB Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
	Issued in 1999 Highways and Bridges Commemorated on U. S. Postage Stamps A Philatelic Transportation Venture - 4,284KB
	Ford Mustangs and Neon 2013 Mecum Chicago Auction Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden View photo of Ford Mustangs and Neon - 3.7MB
	1964½ 289 Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet View photo of 1964½ Ford Mustang 289 Model Car - 2.3MB
	1964½ 289 Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet View photo of 1964½ Ford Mustang 289 Model Car - 2.3MB
	1965 289 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo of 1965 Ford Mustang 289 - 4,284KB
	1965 289 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo of 1965 Ford Mustang 289 Emblem - 2,697KB
	Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo of Ford Mustang GT - 2,965KB
	Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo of Ford Mustang GT - 3,396KB
	Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo of Ford Mustang GT - 3,262KB
	Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo of Ford Mustang GT - 3,849KB
	Eelco Advertisement Motor Trend August 1965 View Eelco Ford Mustang Advertisement - 522KB
	Kustomag Wheels Motor Trend August 1965 View Keystone Rims Kustomag Ford Mustang Advertisement - 858KB
	Paxton Automotive Motor Trend August 1965 View Paxton Automotive Advertisement - 184KB
	Tri-R Industries Dash Plaque Motor Trend August 1965 View Tri-R Industries Dash Plaque Advertisement - KB
	Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden Richmond Cruise Night: June 3, 2011 View photo of Ford Mustang - 436KB
	Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden Richmond Cruise Night: June 3, 2011 View photo of Ford Mustang - 436KB
	Custom Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden 3rd Annual Grass Lake PTO "Cars for Kids" Classic & Hot Rod Show May 18, 2008 View photo of Ford Mustang - 3,577KB
	Custom Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden 3rd Annual Grass Lake PTO "Cars for Kids" Classic & Hot Rod Show May 18, 2008 View photo of Ford Mustang - 4,167KB
	Custom Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden 3rd Annual Grass Lake PTO "Cars for Kids" Classic & Hot Rod Show May 18, 2008 View photo of Ford Mustang - 5,229KB
	Drag Racing Modified Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden Miller's Dog N Suds Cruise Night: June 2, 2008 in Ingleside, Illinois View photo of Drag Racing Modified Ford Mustang - 2.8MB
	Bullitt Ford Mustang Die Cast Photo courtesy View photo of Bullitt Ford Mustang Die Cast - 658KB
	Bullitt Ford Mustang Die Cast Photo courtesy View photo of Bullitt Ford Mustang Die Cast - 290KB
	1968 Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden July 2011 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang - 3,332KB
	1968 with 302 Windsor Photo by Stephen Foskett Taken August 26, 2006 at the 28th annual New England Regional All-Ford Show and Swap Meet hosted by the Mustang Car Club of New England at the Hebert Candy Mansion in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang 302 Windsor - 143KB Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
	1968 Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden Pizza House Cruise Night: May 16, 2012 View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang - 2.8MB
	1968 Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden C.A.R.S. in Miniature January 2011 After Christmas Banquet View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang Model - 2,361KB
	1968 GT/CS California Special Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Cruisin' Gilberts Spring into Action Car & Truck & Cycle Show View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang GT/CS California Special - 3.2MB
	1968 GT/CS California Special Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Cruisin' Gilberts Spring into Action Car & Truck & Cycle Show View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang GT/CS California Special - 3.4MB
	1968 GT/CS California Special Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Cruisin' Gilberts Spring into Action Car & Truck & Cycle Show View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang GT/CS California Special - 3.4MB
	1968 GT/CS California Special Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Cruisin' Gilberts Spring into Action Car & Truck & Cycle Show View photo of 1968 Ford Mustang GT/CS California Special - 3.3MB
	Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden 2009 Firestone Spring Charity Car Show for Breast Cancer View photo of Ford Mustang - 3,919KB
	Larry Barker Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden 2011 Attack of the Plastic View photo of Larry Barker Ford Mustang - 752KB
	Atwater Ford "Pony Up" Ford Mustang Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden 2013 Attack of the Plastic View photo of Pony Up Ford Mustang Model Car - 3.9MB
	1970 Boss 302 Photo ©2007 Bill Crittenden Buss Ford Car Show View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 - 2,019KB
	1970 Boss 302 Photo ©2007 Bill Crittenden Buss Ford Car Show View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 - 1,911KB
	1970 Boss 302 Photo ©2007 Bill Crittenden Buss Ford Car Show View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 - 1,724KB
	1970 Boss 302 Photo ©2007 Bill Crittenden Buss Ford Car Show View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 - 1,973KB
	1970 Mach 1 Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - 2,327KB
	1970 Mach 1 Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - 1,683KB
	1970 Mach 1 Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - 2,376KB
	1970 Boss 302 George Follmer Built by Ken Kellner Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden April 2010 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Model - 4,120KB
	1970 Boss 302 George Follmer Built by Ken Kellner Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden April 2010 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Model - 3,941KB
	1970 Mach 1 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo - 3,262KB
	1970 Mach 1 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo - 3,273KB
	1970 Mach 1 1:32 scale Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden C.A.R.S. in Miniature January 2011 After Christmas Banquet View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Model - 2,582KB
	1970 Mach 1 1:32 scale Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden C.A.R.S. in Miniature January 2011 After Christmas Banquet View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Model - 3,003KB
	1970 Mach 1 Revell 1:32 scale "Whiteout" kit Built by Elijah Walczak (at age 6) Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden Built at the IPMS/C.A.R.S. in Miniature McHenry Library Make & Take on February 19, 2011 View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Model - 4,188KB
	1970 Mach 1 Revell 1:32 scale "Whiteout" kit Built by Elijah Walczak (at age 6) Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden Built at the IPMS/C.A.R.S. in Miniature McHenry Library Make & Take on February 19, 2011 View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Model - 3,784KB
	1970 Mach 1 Revell 1:32 scale "Whiteout" kit Built by Elijah Walczak (at age 6) Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden Built at the IPMS/C.A.R.S. in Miniature McHenry Library Make & Take on February 19, 2011 View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Model - 4,243KB
	1970 Mach 1 Revell 1:32 scale "Whiteout" kit Built by Elijah Walczak (at age 6) Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden Built at the IPMS/C.A.R.S. in Miniature McHenry Library Make & Take on February 19, 2011 View photo of 1970 Ford Mustang Model - 3,332KB
	1970 Boss 302 2004 Zippo United States Vintage Grand Prix Driven by Dave Putnam Photo by Nathan Bittinger View photo - 302KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
	1970 Boss 302 2004 Zippo United States Vintage Grand Prix Driven by Dave Putnam Photo by Nathan Bittinger View photo - 281KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
	1970 Boss 302 Photo by Nathan Bittinger #68 - 1970 Ford Boss 302 (302cid) Dave Putnam Glenwood, MD 2004 Zippo United States Vintage Grand Prix View photo - 271KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
	1970 Boss 302 Photo by Nathan Bittinger #68 - 1970 Ford Boss 302 (302cid) Dave Putnam Glenwood, MD 2004 Zippo United States Vintage Grand Prix View photo - 315KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
	"Boss Nine" Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden July 2011 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of Boss Nine Ford Mustang Model - 3,551KB
	"Boss Nine" Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden July 2011 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of Boss Nine Ford Mustang Model - 3,814KB
	Ford Drag Team and Cobra Jet Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden July 2011 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of Ford Mustang Models - 2,557KB
	1971 Photo by "Wssw" Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
	1971 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo - 4,923KB
	1971 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo - 4,432KB
	1971 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo - 4,437KB
	1971 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo - 3,587KB
	1971 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo - 4,274KB
	1971 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo - 4,803KB
	1971 Mach I Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Gary Lang Auto Group Car Show View photo - 4,050KB
	1971 Mach I Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Gary Lang Auto Group Car Show View photo - 3,976KB
	1971 Mach I Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Gary Lang Auto Group Car Show View photo - 4,042KB
	1971 Mach I Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Gary Lang Auto Group Car Show View photo - 3,454KB
	1971 Mach I Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Gary Lang Auto Group Car Show View photo - 4,555KB
	1971 Mach I Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Gary Lang Auto Group Car Show View photo - 3,683KB
	1971 Mach I Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Gary Lang Auto Group Car Show View photo, 4,328KB
	Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden View photo of Ford Mustang - 556B
	Photo ©2011 Bill Crittenden View photo of Ford Mustang - 539B
	Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo - 4,727KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 4,044KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 3,573KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 4,236KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 3,199KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 3,806KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 3,806KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 3,269KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 2,506KB
	1973 351 Convertible Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Woodstock VFW "Remember Our Heroes" Car Show View photo - 3,856KB
	1973 Built by Ron Koeller, Jr. Photo ©2009 John Walczak 2009 Milwuakee NNL View photo - 1,414KB

Documents

Date	Document Name & Details	Documents
3 October 1966	NHTSA Recall 66V004006 1967 Ford Mustang, 1967 Mercury Cougar Steering:Gear Box (Other Than Rack and Pinion) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration	Recall Page - 1 page

Merchandise

Type & Item #	Name	Details
Model Kit - IMC 102-150	Ford Mustang II Customizing Kit	1:25 scale, "Selected by Budd Anderson"
Model Kit - MPC 1368-200	1968 Mustang 427 GT	1:25 scale
Die Cast - American Muscle 33963	1970 Mustang Grabber	Elite Edition, 1:18 scale, Grabber Blue, production 2,500
Model Kit - Revell 85-1169	Whiteout Ford Mustang Mach 1	Road Chill Series, 1:32 scale, SnapTite 1970
Model Kit - AMT 38160	1971 Ford Mustang	Classics, 1:25 scale
Model Kit - MPC 6249	1971 Ford Mustang Boss 351	1:25 scale, 2 in 1

Article Index

Date	Article	Author/Source
23 March 2011	Why The Mustang Was The Most Enduring Muscle Car	William Jason
16 April 2011	Ford Shelby Mustang, The	William Jason
7 May 2011	The Legend Of The Ford Mustang	William Jason
7 January 2014	New From Summit Racing Equipment: Hotchkis Stage 1 TVS Suspension Systems for 1964.5-70 Mustang	Summit Racing Equipment
5 April 2016	New at Summit Racing: C&R Racing Radiator Module for 1967-70 Mustang with Ford Modular V8	Summit Racing Equipment
22 July 2016	Summit Racing 1964.5-68 Ford Mustang Automatic to T-5 Transmission Swap Parts Combos Now Available	Summit Racing Equipment