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74 Mustang - Young Car With a Tradition and a Future

EVOLUTION OF THE MUSTANG        "Mustangers" formed clubs and held rallies.        But while Mustang was winning new friends and influencing the competition, it also was losing some of the admirers who had lined up to buy the earliest Mustangs.        The year 1967 marked the high point for Mustang-type cars - including Cougar, Camaro and Firebird - as opposed to sporty imports and to bucket-seat compacts and domestic luxury sports cars.        The same year marked the first decline in sales for Mustang. Its sales, share of industry and share of its fading segment have been: Calendar Year Sales Share of Industry Share of Segment 1964 263,434 3.2% 55.2% 1965 524,785 5.6 67.5 1966 549,436 6.1 74.4 1967 377,827 4.5 42.4 1968 323,552 3.3 38.4 1969 263,984 2.8 39.0 1970 152,770 1.9 28.9 1971 127,062 1.2 29.1 1972 111,760 1.1 39.7        By 1970, Mustang was clearly at a crossroad. Argus Publishing Company, whose Popular Hot-Rodding magazine was to name Mustang "Car of the Decade" in 1972, published a special 112-page Mustang magazine in 1970 called "The Fabulous Mustang," and asked: "Will Mustang remain the same, or change, or disappear?"        Ford product planners and marketing experts were asking the same questions.        Since Mustang's introduction in 1964, it had evolved into a larger, heavier, more expensive vehicle.

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