Ford Mustang: History of the model
Ford Mustang is one of the most iconic American cars that was presented to the world in the distant 1964. The history of the model starts with the desire of Vice President Lee Iacocca to give the American consumer a car that weighs less than 1200kg for under $2500. The car tapped into the undeveloped market of 2 doors, 4 seat coupes, and it reaped tremendous success. The success of the model is also very dependent on the marketing campaign of Ford, which targeted young couples who wanted a sporty coupe. Mustangs were selling so fast that at one point Ford was making 1200 cars a day, and it wasn’t near enough.
1965-1973 First Generation
Ford built the first Mustang on the second-generation Ford Falcon chassis. It had two types of gasoline engines. Also, it came with two types of transmission. The car had an inline-six engine and a powerful V8 engine. In 1967, the Mustang got a facelift with the new fastback emerging. It had new grills, new bumpers, and new taillights. The car was a mix of aggressiveness and sex appeal.
1974-1978 Second Generation
Later on, fuel prices became very expensive and people couldn’t afford to fuel their powerful V8s, so Ford took a major decision and released the Mustang’s second generation in 1974. The second generation was nothing like the first one. It had small engines on the chassis of Ford Pinto. The cars were available with an inline-4 cylinder or a V6 engine. The change didn’t stop the Americans from buying the Mustang and Ford sold almost 300 000 Mustangs, making it the 6th best-selling Mustang ever.
1979-1993 Third Generation
In the 80s, Ford updated the Mustang with a new chassis introducing the third generation of the Mustang. The company had experimented with some new engines, even including some turbo engine arrangements, but sales were slowly going down. Ford then proposed to replace the existing Mustang with an FWD design they had borrowed from Mazda. Then the company received huge amounts of Mustang fan letters demanding that the Mustang must live and the change from RWD to FWD should not happen. In 1987, Ford responded with the refreshed Mustang with a 5.0l V8 engine with forged aluminum pistons and new cylinder heads. The sales of the Mustang went back to the expected levels.
1994-2004 Fourth Generation
In 1994, Ford introduced the new generation of the model. The fourth generation (SN95) had rounded lines and a sportier look than the previous generation. It had V6 and V8 engines, which were making about 150hp and 228hp with a 5-speed manual a 4-speed automatic. The new chassis of the Mustang was stiffer and handled better than its predecessor. In the year 2000, Ford released a Mustang Cobra R with a 5.4l DOHC V8 engine and a six-speed manual with 385hp.
2005-2014 Fifth Generation
The fifth-generation Ford Mustang (S197) committed to the retro styling of earlier models. They released the fifth generation in 2005. The Mustang could have a 4.0L V6, a 4.6L V8, or a 5.4L supercharged V8 engine. The transmissions were five or six-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic. When the facelift of the model appeared in 2010, it made some subtle changes for better aerodynamics.
2015-2023 Sixth Generation
And in 2015, Ford released the 6th generation of the Mustang (S550). It had almost a European look with its sporty aggressive design. The S550 had switched to a multi-link independent rear suspension, which resulted in a tremendous improvement in the car’s handling. They could equip the facelift models which were released in 2018, with the revolutionary 10-speed automatic or the simple 6-speed gearbox. Ford also introduced a small four-cylinder turbo engine to the big family of Mustang’s engines.