To understand the phenomenal effect of the original Ford Mustang on the automobile market, here is a look at the sociological changes and economic development of the early 60's that helped shaped its success.

The State of the Market:

The children of the world war II baby boom were coming of car buying age. Millions of young people would enter the car buying market as customers on the 1960's. It was expected that shoppers in the 18-34 age range would account for more than 50% of the increase in new car sales projected for the coming decade.

Another important development affecting the automobile market was the trend toward higher education. Over three and a-half million students were enrolled in the country's colleges in 1960, with the total expected to double in 1970. College-educated people buy cars at a markedly higher rate than non-college educated people. Fact 19% of the US population had at least some college, yet this relatively small group purchased 46% of all the new cars sold in 1964.

The expansion in the number of multiple-car buyers. In 1959 one million US families owned two or more cars. Research indicated that number would increase steadily throughout the coming decade.

Lastly the influence of women was a factor on the growing number of multiple-car families, since they made the most use of the second car. Women were forming decided opinions about what kind of car it should be-small, maneuverable, handle and park easily, a "specialized" vehicle.

Two major forces were beginning to point a new direction for car design, signs of pent up demand for a car not currently available in the market place.

1) The car would have to be novel in design, with an attractive "personality"

2) The price would have to be within the reach of the new young buyers, whose tastes tended to outrun their modest means.

Creating A Car:

As these market factors began to emerge and Ford identified the significant marketing considerations, a small task force of designers, engineers, and product planners set down the concept of a forward-looking experimental sports car code named Mustang.

The original concept was pure sports car, a two-seater, designed with no thought to the mass-market appeal. Research and sales experience had already shown that a two-passenger vehicle would find a limited market in the US.

A prototype of the two-seat Mustang was developed and exhibited at Watkins Glen Grand Prix in the fall of 1962. It created phenomenal excitement. People poured out of the stands and surrounded the car for a look.

Ford planners now felt certain they could give the designers and engineers a clear direction. The studies and the positive response to the first Mustang indicated that the correct course was to capture the flair and flavor of the prototype Mustang in a four-seater model that could satisfy the demand (a personal and/or a family car) identified in the initial market research.

Design alternatives, optimum size, performance characteristics, estimated sales, and the sources of those sales, came under intense study by Ford. In the summer of 1962, market surveys focused on packaging sizes, interior arrangement, and design elements. Shifting trends in the market were observed carefully to make sure the assumptions on which the new Mustang was being created, would remain valid as the product moved toward the launch date.

There was new evidence that the Mustang might have a wider market than was first thought. The car designed primarily to satisfy the young adult buyer and the multiple-car market, proved to be attractive to other kinds of prospects as well. Couples with young children and older adults, both men and women.

Product Launch:

The Mustang was released to the public on April 16, 1964, one journalist described it as, "the most sensational product introduction of modern times." The original Ford Mustang was the result of reliable marketing research findings, aimed at creating a small, sporty car which was inexpensive enough to appeal to an emerging demographic market segment, young car buyers.

The Mustang was the brainchild of Ford executive Lee Iacocca. "Outside the industry, Iacocca was always considered the father of the Mustang… Within Ford, however, Don Frey, the product manager, was seen as the brains behind it." But to sell short Iacocca's impact as a salesman would be a mistake. The car's development never would have made it past the reluctant upper echelons of Ford management without Iacocca's persuasive skills.

The Mustang was not an entirely new line of car in the traditional sense. In fact, the product planners intended to make a car readily adaptable to existing off the shelf Ford parts. By making the Mustang a Ford Falcon under the hood, the production team cut development and manufacturing costs dramatically. Iacocca called the Mustang a Ford Falcon with "a whole new skin and greenhouse." He would never have called it that during its development, however. Ford advertising stressed the Mustang as a whole new breed of Fords: small, muscular and personal. The base price of the car was only $2,368, but actual buyers averaged over $1,000 in factory and dealer installed options and accessories.

Ford's advertising and public relations created an astounding media blitz surrounding the car's release. The Mustang made the covers of Time and Newsweek, and the car appeared in every major business and automotive publication. Over it's first two years the Mustang earned $1.1 billion in profits for Ford Motor Company. No new car in history had ever received the publicity and attention that the media lavished on Ford's small sporty Mustang.

And as they say.........."THE REST IS HISTORY"