Mustang II Network - 74 Mustang - Young Car With a Tradition and a Future - Page 9

mustang ii

74 Mustang - Young Car With a Tradition and a Future

THE FIRST MUSTANG
On Ford's own compact cars, customers were ordering optional engines, automatic transmissions, white sidewall tires, optional dress-up kits - strange reaction from a market that had been tabbed "economy." What kind of car could meet buyers' expectations? What was needed was a car with the flair and performance of the original Thunderbird, and the price tag of the Falcon. "All through the company there were people who thought we should go back and recreate the first T-Bird," said Donald E. Peterson, then Ford Division product planning manager. "Over a period of several months (in 1961), we became convinced that such a two-passenger car was too inherently limited in volume to make it a profitable program," he said. Ford Division Product Planning put together a series of papers showing a strong correlation between Ford's lack of sporty products and the increasing gap in age between Ford and Chevrolet buyers. The conclusion was that Ford was not attracting its share of the growing youth market. It was getting to be known for producing "old folks' car." "This was the beginning of the performance program at Ford," said Peterson. "We felt we had to make a push, to do something about it." By late 1961, a task force of engineers, planners and designers had come up with the parameters of the vehicle needed: The car that was evolving could not be more than 180 inches long, weigh more than 2,500 pounds, or cost more than $2,500. Planning volume at the time for what was called the "Special Falcon" was 75,000. By the time the program received corporate approval, almost a year later, the planning volume had doubled to 150,000 with 50,000 units expected to be incremental. And even that proved to be low. "One of the strange things about the program was that, as close as we were to it, I think we missed on extraordinary fact," said Hal K. Sperlich, then manager of special projects for Ford Division. "We thought we were doing a small, economical, sporty car; but as I look back on it, I think what we really created was the first 'nice' U.S. small car. By that I mean there were a lot of small cars around, but small was cheap and big was luxurious. I think there was a tremendous appetite among people to buy a small, economical, really nice car. A sexy, interesting car.

9

Text and photos in the Exclusive Feature Stories section may not be reproduced in any manner without express written permission from the Mustang II Network.


Copyright 1999 - 2010 Mustang II Network - Privacy Policy