Why are mustangs so popular?

First Mustangs

In 1962 at the United States Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, New York, Ford introduced to the world a new type of car called the Mustang. Model year production started in 1964 and the Mustang was popular right from the start. The first was a white convertible with a black interior when it came off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan.

At first they were planning to sell 100,000 cars, but in just two years Ford sold more than a million Mustangs!

Muscle Car

The Mustang was a "muscle car." That means it is a high performance car with a powerful engine.

During the first designs, Ford strongly considered a fast back model. The Mustang was based on a mid-sized Ford Fairlane Mercury Comet, not like a compact Ford Falcon.

Some of the major changes that Ford did to the line of Mustang in 1965 was after 5 months there was an almost complete engine change, and the Ford brand got bigger and heavier every year.

Mustangs started out popular in the 1960s. Over the years they made some changes and got less popular, but later the Mustang went back to the basic roots and got more popular again.

Popular modifications

For such an affordable sports car the Mustang also had lots of options like tissue holder to automatic transmission, and up to three V8 engine options for the mustang.

There are modifications that are on both the racing version and the street version such as side exiting exhaust. Shelbys have 15 inch magnesium wheels.

Modern Mustangs

Newer Mustangs have different grills (a grill is on the front of a car so the engine does not overheat). In the 1960s they had metal wires that were intertwined and now they are just plastic with shapes cut out of it. Some of the new Ford hybrids do not have a grill because the car is electric. But after all of those years the Mustang still has a smooth hood.

Shelby Mustangs

The Shelby Mustang was a high-performance variation of the Ford Mustang built by the company Shelby American from 1965 to 1967 and by the Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 1970. The very first Shelby was a racing car called the GT40 built by Carroll Shelby, the owner of the car company Shelby American.

In 2005, Ford brought back the Shelby name. One of the hp (high-performance) engine designs was a 325hp. Some Shelbys come with standard transmission.

In 2015, the Ford manufacturer made a race ready Shelby Mustang. Ford made a street legal version, the GTH. It came with a manual transmission. Older mustangs could be dangerous with high horsepower but newer models have safety features. One safety feature is called plethora active safety.

Fast cars before the Mustang

In the 1920s, lots of people owned a sports car just for going fast. Sports cars that are from the 1920s have big engines and superchargers to make them go faster. Only some of the supercharged machines could top 100 mph like Duesenberg J. These cars were mostly used for racing. And if you looked at the front of one of these cars you could tell that they were special.

Old ways that are still used today

An older popular car that was made by Ford was the Model T. The way Ford made the model T was using an assembly line, which is still used today. Before the assembly line, all cars were built one at a time, so they would be made slightly different even if they were supposed to be the same brand made by the same manufacturer.

Some of the old manufacturers are still around today like Ford and Ferrari. Did you know that Ferrari and Ford are rivals?

Show you're a fan

Ford Mustangs are popular sports cars. It was based off a Ford Falcon. The Ford Mustang has been a popular sports car for 50 years for Mustang lovers or for classic car viewers in general. Ford Mustangs have been impressing the crowd with its classic but modern look that is hard to remake. The Mustang was supposed to be a unique sports car and affordable to most people.

Dedicated Mustang fans count the models of Mustang in their favorite movies or shows. If you want a limited edition Ford Mustang, you could probably find one for 100,000 dollars.

In August 2018, Ford built the 10,000,000 (ten millionth) Mustang! It was a white convertible with a V8 engine to match the very first Mustang that they built in 1964.