Happy Birthday, Mustang! Share your Mustang story

Today marks the 45th birthday of the Ford Mustang, which was first shown to the public at the New York World’s Fair on April 17, 1964.

Ford introduced fairgoers to the Mustang at the Magic Skyway exhibit, where various Ford models including 12 Mustang convertibles were drawn through a Disney-designed vision of world history, from the dinosaurs to the “City of Tomorrow.” The voice of Walt Disney himself narrated the automated journey, piped through the cars’ radio speakers.

Henry Ford II handled the official Mustang unveiling duties and introduced the Magic Skyway. Some show attendees queued up in long lines for the Disney spectacle, others simply wanted to ride into the future in what would become an American icon. As a raving young gearhead, I fell into the latter category, and my parents were kind enough to let me slide behind the wheel for the ride. I’m not sure I even noticed the dinosaurs.

 Mustang sales took off from day one, with customers flocking to dealers even as the exhibit opened, and some 22,000 were sold the first day. First-year sales topped 400,000 units, far beyond the original projections of 100,000 cars. The Mustang was off at gallop to become what is now the longest-running nameplate in the company’s history.

As a lifelong car enthusiast, I have fond memories of being there for the birth of the Mustang, and it is with the same sort of youthful enthusiasm that I look forward to getting behind the wheel of the revised 2010 model.

Everybody has a Mustang story. What’s yours? Post in the comments below.

—Jim Travers

Comments

[Cale]

I was four years old when my parents took me to the 1964 World's Fair. Too young to remember the Mustang, and not yet a "car guy", I remember a machine that produced a green injection-molded dinosaur and the ride on the subway.

Thanks for bringing back that long forgotten memory. At the time, that dinosaur was very special to me...

[Ron Taggirt]

Mustang still a great choice as all parts are readily available and
the six-cylinder model from '60s and the sweet handling SHO model from the 1980s (whose turbocharged four-cylinder developed 240 horses, I believe) won't bankrupt you if gas goes up again.

The SHO even had a setting that adjusted the turbo boost from 10 to 15 psi depending on if you were running regular or unleaded.

[Cale]

Writing again, this time to stay on topic. I owned "Orange Tang" for 6 years. She was a 1980 4-cyl Mustang manual with the most hideous orange paint (Bright Caramel) and matching orange vinyl interior. The cheapest new car on the Ford lot, my father gave her to me in college and she trudged through Boston, Michigan and finally NYC winters with snow tires. Only on the rear, of course!

Recollecting sitting in that car, I'm surprised it didn't occur to me sooner, I must have developed a taste for injection molding at that World's Fair. :-)

[Ray Massey]

I had a 1977 Mustang II Ghia. It was yellow with a green trunk lid. I used to drive that thing everywhere with the speedo pegged. The speedometer finally broke so instead of being pegged at 85, the needle would continue on around again to 15 or 20 MPH. I have no idea how fast I was going but it would blow the doors off of the Nissan 300zx's and other "fast" cars at the time (around 1986). BTW, it was the 302 V8. Only about 130 HP but it had a custom dual exhaust and some other mods that may have helped. It was true what they said about the wind on the body. You had to be attentive and active to control it at the top speeds. My girlfriend hated driving it because it was too fast. "You just touch the gas and the stupid thing takes off!" lol. I went through a lot of tires. :-)

[Jeff Kelson]

From age 16 to age 27 I drove only original style Mustangs - a '64 1/2 coupe with an 8 cylinder engine, and a blue '66 convertible with a 6 cylinder engine. They both were fun to own and they both increased in value even though I drove them all of the time. That was the 1970s and 1980s.

Of course, a Mustang convertible will draw stares from all kinds of folks and they are fun for a cruise. However, I never will forget how awful were the brakes in my 6 cylinder mustang. They were not up to the task of stopping that relatively light car, and I scared myself several times trying to get that iron steed to stop! In all, the early Mustangs were average technology (for the time) in a good looking package at an affordable price. In all, those early 'stangs were a good deal for many of us.

[Dennis]

I bought my first Ford when I was selling Fords - my old Chrysler New Yorker with the dreaded Mitsubishi engine blew for the second time, and i bought a previous rental, my Laser Red Mustang, six with auto, and 4 wheel ABS/disc brakes. My only real regret is I love the traction control feature that was only a $400 option on Mustangs, but is hard to find - overall, this is the best car I have ever owned, almost no repairs in 106,000 miles, though I try to keep it up as per the owners manual. The paint was not good this year, the roof paint has lost its clear coat, so it feels rough, but I love my Mustang! I do wish some effort could be put into making it easier for old people to get into the passenger seat however, and inch or two more for them to swing their legs in would help a lot!

[David]

My parents bought one new in 1966; Arcadian Blue (light blue) with 2 tone blue interior, V8, auto and AM radio. I still have the car and recently got it painted in the original color. Everything is original, except for some reproduction cosmetic parts for the interior and the bumpers, but it looks like it did new. It's still a solid car and its simplicity of design is a marvel, but it has a hard time coping in today's fast paced world of manic drivers, especially the brakes. Great thing about them is the abundance of cheap parts available and you can also upgrade the brakes and suspension with aftermarket kits if you like. Its a beautiful car to look at; they don't build character into cars anymore.

[Bob Hawk]

I was mesmerized by the new Mustang. I saw my first one at my local Ford dealer in March '65, under a tarp in the "back room" when I went to pick up my new '64 Ford Country Squire. That was before the grand entry at the World Fair. I told my friend/dealer I want one of those. Three months later he called me and said that he had a yellow six cylinder A/T demo for sale.
I STILL HAVE IT.

[harleyniterider]

My first Mustang sighting was in the summer of '64. The whole family piled into Dad's station wagon and we all got out at the local hamburger joint. As the orders were filled, we'd traipse back to the car with our lunches. As I turned the corner facing the wagon, a brand new Red Mustang Coupe was pulling in & right up beside our family car! I froze,then, kept walking cautiously. It was low. Too low. Exactly half the height of the rest of the full parking lot. And the hood was long. An Extra long hood must mean: ALL Engine! Kind-of a low Rocket! I don't know how to explain it. But this was an actual sighting, from..Detroit. That car shocked the nation & the world. And if you watch closely, its about to happen again soon with Green,Electric,Hybrid Cars. That first Mustang sighting was Really Something! - Bill Borst