Walt Disney introduced “It’s a Small World” in 1964 at the Worlds Fair in New York City. While thousands of people floated in the little boats through this attraction to hear children singing the theme song that sticks in your head forever there was something else going on at the fair. One day in April, at that same fair, Ford Motor Company was making their own introduction, the new, 1965 Ford Mustang. Both of these traditions now have a forty-five year history.

Ford did not expect the Mustang to be so popular. Overnight, over 2500 newspapers presented positive reviews of the vehicle. Sales took off like a rocket. Only Ford’s first Model “A” has ever exceeded initial sales. At Ford dealers across the nation people lined up to pay out $2368 in order to own a ford Mustang. In order to keep prices low, Ford had borrowed parts from other cars already in production, notably the Falcon and Fairlane. The Falcon parts were used the most. The framework as well as the 100 horsepower motor came from this car. Even the first Mustang horn ring had the Falcon symbol molded into its lower edge. Ford set VIN numbers to 1965, although collectors now refer to these first Mustangs as 1964 1/2. A 1964 1/2 Mustang currently has an appraised value of over thirty thousand dollars.

Through the years, the body style of the mustang has changes, but the Mustang has remained easily identifiable. The front grill and side door swoops have remained throughout the years.

The success of the Mustang lead other manufacturers to quickly introduce their own “pony cars.” These vehicles had large hoods and small trunk decks.

After the failure of the Edsil, Ford had researched and found that many people, especially women felt that full size cars had become too large. Remember this would have been before the widespread use of power steering and power brakes. In response to that research Ford introduced the Falcon. This compact car had been somewhat successful, but the Mustang overwhelmingly became more popular. Its sales ultimately cut into the market of the Falcon and lead to its demise in 1970.

As time progressed, the size of the Mustang began to grow larger. Fans of the original Mustang began to complain about the size of the vehicle, and in response, Ford introduced the Mustang II in 1984. Although smaller in size than the original Mustang, additional requirements for smog devices made the car heavier than even the original Mustang. Ford had not only downsized the size of the vehicle, but had also downsized the engine. Thus, the first Mustang II’s were very underpowered.

Fans of the original Mustang complained and in 1984, Ford listened and produced the Mustang II. The Mustang II was smaller than the Mustang introduced at the World’s Fair, but due to new federal regulations on air pollution actually weighed more than the original. Ford had included a smaller engine resulting in an underpowered car.

Purchasers of today’s Mustang can expect to pay a base price of twenty-one thousand dollars. If you want your Mustang fully loaded, add another eleven grand.

The new Mustang, like it predecessors, is expected to be a great seller for Ford.

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