The History of the Ford Mustang :: essays research papers fc

It seems that almost everyone has a favorite Mustang. With so many differentgenerations of the Muscle Car to choose from the list is varied. To some, a candyApple Red 65 with a 289 is the best ever. Or how about a fastback with theHighPower V8 and GT package? Ever heard the rumble from a Boss 302? And but others consider the 5.0 Liter Mustangs the best largely because of thevariety of low cost add-on parts available. These cars are inexpensive to buy andmodify. And then there is the Cobras no matter what year or body style the Cobrascome of the factory line ready to go Runem.In the early 60s the plainly American sports car was the Corvette at a price to costlyfor many young Americans. The Thunderbird was basically a luxury car at the time.As a result Imported sports cars were selling well. Within a few years the post-warbaby boomers would be buying their first car. The Mustang II concept car generated lot of excitement and led directly to the first Mustang less than a year later. Fordwas unaware how popular the car would be. They announced when the first television commercialised would be shown and many Americans tuned in to see it. The next day, thefirst day of availability, Ford sold 22,000 mustangs.The 19641/2, as it was later called, was available in only dickens models the coupe andconvertible. twain models featured a lengthened hood and shortened rear deck,chrome wrap-around bumpers, chrome grille with a running horse, and full wheelcovers. Both models were available with a 170 cid, 101 horsepower, 6 cylinderengine, a 260-2V, 164 horsepower V-8, a 289-4V, 210 horsepower V-8 and, startingin June, a fire breathing, 4 barrel, solid lifter, 271 horsepower, 289 cid V-8 engine.The buyer had a choice of a 3 speed, 4 speed or automatic transmission, and a varietyof rear end cogwheel ratios. The interior featured "wall-to-wall" carpeting, front bucketseats or an optional front bench seat, rear bench seat, a sports car style controlwheel, floor moun ted shifter, and full headliner (Kowalke). There were a total of 121,538 Mustangs produced during the 6412 model run(Mustang) . 1965 brought few changes for the Mustang. The biggest change was theavailability of a new fastback model, which was to set about the basis for CarrollShelbys G.T. 350. The 120 horsepower, 200 cid 6 cylinder engine replaced the 170cid 6 cylinder, the 289-2V, 200 horsepower V-8 replaced the 260-2V, the 289-4Vwas upgraded to 225 horsepower, and the 289-4V hi-po remained unchanged