|
|
| By the start
of the 60's, Ford decided that it was time for something new. The
Thunderbird was doing well, but it was less appealing to the younger generation
of car buyers. The "Boomer" generation was looking for something
fun and sporty, yet affordable. Ford's answer was the Mustang.
The Mustang was the brainchild of Lee Iacocca and by April 17, 1964, the
first Mustang rolled off the assembly line. The Mustang came in two
styles at first, the hardtop coupe and the convertible. Later in
'65, the Fastback 2+2 was introduced. The
Mustang did incorporate some qualities that made the Thunderbird popular.
Those qualities were a long hood and short rear deck.
The Mustang idea was actually started by Iacocca who really staked his whole career on the Mustang concept. After a substantial amount of market research, Ford knew that the 18-34 year old car buyers were indeed ready to buy(Consumer Guide). Iacocca was determined to be the first to tap into this market, and he was. By fall of 1962, Iacocca was given the go ahead on the Mustang and a budget of $40 million and a time frame of 18 months to have the first Mustang produced. Two of the main reasons that the Mustang was given a chance was because the compatibility of existing Ford parts and that Henry Ford II liked the car himself(Carlyon 21). The compatibility of existing Ford parts meant less money to be invested in expensive retooling for the new car. Before the Mustang was actually called the "Mustang", many names had been tossed around including Cougar, T5, Special Falcon, and Torino among others(Anonymous). Two of the "father" designers were pushing for the name Cougar, but it was to be the Mustang. Cougar would later be used on a different car. Before the Mustang went into production, there was a lot of hype created for the car. Clever advertising that actually understated the car was used. The biggest publicity the new car received was at the New York World's Fair. A pre-released Mustang used as a pace car at a track in Alabama caused a mob of 9000 eager spectators to come over the wall and surround the car for over an hour(Carlyon 27). On the night of April 16, 1964 a "media saturation" between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. on the three major networks reached over 29 million households(Carlyon 27). Then on the next day, the release date, public hysteria broke out, known as "Mustang Madness". Over 22,000 Mustangs were sold in the first hours. At first, production was set at 75,000, in the first 12 months that the Mustang was produced, 418,812 were sold(Carlyon 22). The base price for the Mustang was set at $2368(Consumer Guide). The popularity of the Mustang grew and grew. Ford handled the success well and they didn't let so much success turn into a failure by underproduction and lack of supply for demand. Ford did their homework. The market was there. The Mustang was definitely there. How could the Mustang not be an instant success? |
|
Anonymous. The Ford Mustang. [On-line]
Carlyon, Richard. Mustang
Consumer Guide - Mustang, The Original Pony Car
|
Get your own Free Home Page |
