This is the history of the Ford Mustang.

It is an American automobile, originally based on the Ford Falcon compact. The first production Mustang rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964, and was introduced to the public at the New York World's Fair on April 17, 1964. It was one of the most successful product launches in automotive history. The three American television networks introduced the Mustang on April 19, 1964. The Mustang sold over one million units in its first 18 months on the market.

Despite his attempts to receive the go-ahead to produce the Mustang, Lee Iacocca's proposals fell on mostly deaf ears. Although the company was still hurting financially after the demise of the Edsel Division in late 1959, upper management at Ford under Robert McNamara wasn't willing to take such a major risk.

Still, Iacocca persevered and was given the approval to produce the Mustang in mid 1962, which gave the design team only eighteen months to design and develop the car. Not only did the project wrap up in less than eighteen months, it was also under budget, thanks to the decision for the use of many existing mechanical parts as possible.

Design and engineering

The prototype, first conceived by Ford product manager Donald N. Frey and championed by Ford Division general manager Lee Iacocca, was a two-seat, mid-engine roadster. This would later be remodeled as a four-seat car created by David Ash and Joseph Oros in Ford's Lincoln-Mercury Division design studios, which resulted in the winning design in an intramural design contest called by Iacocca.

Ford stylists pushed the limit of technology of the time in such design areas as the sweep of the rear lower valence and the complicated front end stampings and castings. Curved side glass was used as well, but at a stern price considering the technology to produce distortion-free curved safety glass was still in its early stages.

To cut down the development cost, the Mustang was based heavily on familiar, yet simple components. Much of the chassis, suspension, and drive train was derived from the Ford Falcon and Ford Fairlane. The car had a unitized platform-type frame from the 1964 Falcon, and welcoming box-section side rails, including five welded crossmembers.

Although hardtop Mustangs were the majority in sales, durability problems with the new frame led to the unusual step of engineering the less rigid convertible first, which ensured adequate stiffness. Overall length of the Mustang and Falcon was identical, at 181.6 inches, although the Mustang's wheelbase at 108 inches was slightly shorter. With an overall width of 68.2 inches, it was 2.4 inches narrower, although wheel track was nearly identical. Shipping weight, about 2570 pounds, with six-cylinder engine, was also similar.

A fully-equipped, V8 model weighed about 3000 pounds. Though most of the mechanical parts were directly taken from the Falcon, the Mustang's body shell was completely different from the Falcon's, sporting a shorter wheelbase, wider track, lower seating position, and overall height. An industry first, the "torque box" was an innovative structural system that greatly stiffened the Mustang's unitized body construction and helped contribute to better handling.