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The first Ford Mustang - revolutionary and breathtaking

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Created on July 20, 2011

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Bruno von Rotz

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Ford Mustang (1963) - Illustration from the sales brochure

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Ford Mustang (1964) - modern design

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Ford Mustang (1962) - The two men behind the Mustang - H L Misch, VP Engineering and Gene Bordinat, VP Styling

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Ford Mustang (1964) - you shouldn't get into the Mustang without glasses

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Ford Mustang (1962) - at full speed

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Ford Mustang (1964) - ready for the race track, Dunlop supplied the tires

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Ford Mustang (1964) - view from the front - there are and were more beautiful cars

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Ford Mustang (1964) - rear view

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Ford Mustang (1962) - Interior

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Ford Mustang (1963) - Interior

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Ford Mustang (1964) - Interior

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Ford Mustang (1962) - front view

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Ford Mustang (1962) - Misch and Bordinat show off the new sports car with pride

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Ford Mustang (1964) - Diagrams

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Ford Mustang (1964) - Headlights folded in

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Ford Mustang (1964) - Headlights extended

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Ford Mustang (1964) - Technical sectional drawing

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Ford Mustang (1964) - tubular frame of the experimental vehicle

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Ford Mustang (1963) - front view

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Ford Mustang (1963) - drawing from the sales brochure

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Summary

In 1962, Ford presented the Mustang sports car, a mid-engined runabout with a V4 engine, independent suspension, tubular frame and aluminum body. Contemporary reports rightly referred to it as a Formula 1 car in Sunday best. The flat car was never built in series, only the name was taken from the "real" Ford Mustang as we know it today.

This article contains the following chapters

The sports car market in the USA belonged to the Europeans
Targeting the Europeans
Formula 1 car in Sunday garb
Aerodynamics from the wind tunnel
A match for the competition - on paper
European premiere at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show
Unrestricted and quick to drive
Limited utility value
The "real" Mustang takes at least two steps backwards
Further information

Estimated reading time: 5min

Preview (beginning of the article)

No, that's not how we know the Ford Mustang. The familiar Ford Mustang is a four-seater coupé, not too sporty and not too luxurious, with six or eight cylinders under the hood. No mid-engine, no V4, no two-seater, no barchetta. But that's exactly what the first Mustang looked like when it was presented by Ford in 1962. At the beginning of the sixties, with the exception of the Chevrolet Corvette and a few small series manufacturers, there were hardly any sports cars "made in the US". The Europeans, however, sold very successfully on the American market. Triumph TR3/4, MG A/B, sports cars from Fiat and Alfa Romeo were very popular in the States.

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