Ahead of its time - Ford Mustang Milano from 1970
10/20/2013
The 63rd Chicago Auto Show was attended by 942,029 visitors in February 1971, but according to the report in AR 16/1971, there was hardly anything new to see. Volkswagen, for example, presented the 411, but the dream cars and concept vehicles caused a stir.
In addition to a Chevrolet Corvette with a mid-engine, a show car called the "Ford Mustang Milano" caused a stir, and not just because of its purple color scheme. Ford had already unveiled the showpiece of the "Ford Avanced Styling Studios" in November 1970.
It anticipated key features of the upcoming Mustang generation, but the design and the ideas behind it naturally went much further than later production models. For example, the large tailgate opened electrically and the headlights disappeared under covers when they were not needed. The concept car was over 15 cm lower than the standard Mustang. The exterior and interior were clad in various shades of purple, with leather and velour used for the upholstery. The wheels were reminiscent of the spoked wheels of earlier decades, and the particularly wide tires had been specially manufactured by Firestone for this prototype.
The Mustang Milano not only anticipated elements of the upcoming production Mustang, it also inspired other Ford models such as the Falcon XB Coupé from 1974 for the Australian market.
The color pictures were provided to us by Ford. More pictures of the Ford Mustang Milano are of course also available in high resolution in the Zwischengas archive.
