Ford Mustang Resource
Ford Mustang Vehicle Information
Ford Mustang vehicle information, specs, sales, and other statistics.
Ford Mustang
As one of the most successful automobile breeds in the globe, the Ford Mustang has undergone various revisions in its specifications and design over the years, resulting to yearly success from its initial launch in the 1960's to the modern times. Originally designed as a two-seater to compete with the increasingly popular pony cars of the sixties, the Ford Mustang was remodeled with a backseat and simple specs in 1965.
The 1965 Ford Mustang was basically a simple sports car powered by a 170 cid six cylinder and a pair of V8's. It had a horse motif that became the primary emblem of the Mustang. Based on the Falcon, the sixties Mustang featured chassis, suspension and drive train components derived from the Ford Falcon and Fairlane. The Mustang and the Falcon were of the same length although the Mustang had a slightly shorter wheelbase. Overall, the first generation Ford Mustang was a success, although experts would say most of its mechanical parts were based on the Falcon. Nevertheless, it was the Ford Mustang that raked in the profits.
The demand for pony cars slowly decline in the 1970's. Hence, Ford implemented the drastic downsizing of the original Mustang into a more efficient Mustang II. This started the second generation of the Ford Mustang. As the new president of the company, Lee Lacocca ordered the development of a smaller Mustang based on the Ford Maverick, not much different from the size and power of the Falcon from which the original Mustang was based. But plans were discarded and the Mustang II was based instead on the Ford Pinto that could compete better with the popular sports cars then. The release of the Mustang II was in perfect timing, just months before the Energy Crisis of 1973 hit. Thus it was still able to rake in the sales, with a first year sales of 385, 993 units, almost as much as the original Mustang's.
In 1979, a new and larger Mustang was developed. Based on the Fox platform, it had a completely restyled interior that was more spacious for passengers and at the same had a larger trunk. This marked the start of the third generation of the Ford Mustang, wherein the first ever Mustang convertible was made in 1983. 1994 marked the fourth generation of the Mustang. This is an especially notable year as it was also when the Mustang's had its first major redesigning based on an updated version of the rear-wheel drive Fox platform. The base model came with a 3.8 L V6 engine. The Cobra model also returned during this period, this time with 305 bhp and a very sinister look. In addition, this was the time when award-giving bodies recognized the Ford Mustang. It won Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year three times.
The year 2005 to this day marks the fifth generation of the Ford Mustang. Among the important events so far of this period was the launch of the S-197 Mustang based on a new DC2 platform. The aesthetics of the fifth generation Mustangs are similar to the original models, particularly the 1967-1968 models. Ford's Senior Vice President of Design J Mays calls it "retro-futurism".
