History Of The 1965 Ford Mustang

History Of The 1965 Ford Mustang

The history of the 1965 Ford Mustang began when it came before the American public in April of 1964, and it was love at first sight. Before the year was out more than 500,000 had been sold setting a precedent for sales with the Ford Motor Company. The charm of the Mustang was its versatility of being all cars to all people. It represented the traditional six-cylinder economy car for the mom and pop crowd, a mini-luxury vehicle for the middle class, and posed as a high performance sports car for the younger set. The history of the 1965 Ford Mustang states it actuality began as a sports car, the first of the Ford 'pony cars', and was loosely based on the earlier Ford Falcon. Much of the chassis, and suspension, mocked the Falcon and the Fairlane. The design was conceived by Donald Frey and Lee Lacocca as a two-seated roadster, but later modified to a four-seat model. 1. It broke all sales and production records of not only Ford but other top name cars in that year.

2. It won a Tiffany Gold Medal the first American car to achieve that honor. 4. The Mustang made the Car and Driver Ten Best List for five nonconsecutive years. Shortly after the Ford Mustang made its appearance in 1964 it was chosen as the pace car for the 1964 Indianapolis 500. That same year the Ford Mustang won first and second place in the Tour De France international rally. It made its debut in drag racing in 1965 with dealer sponsored competition. Five 1965 Mustangs, powered by 427 cu. V8s, entered the National Hot Rod Association Experimental Class and qualified for the Factory Stock Eliminator Class. Bill Lawton drove the car that won. Road racing was another sport where the 1965 Ford Mustang excelled. In the history of the 1965 Ford Mustang many variants of the that award winning, star crowned, vehicle lit the horizon of the American automobile scene. The first of these was the Shelby, aimed at the higher end performance seekers. There were five of them; the Shelby GT-H, Shelby GT500KR, Shelby CS6/8, Shelby GT500E and the Shelby GT500 'Super Snake'. Other variants of the Mustang included the Ronaele, Roush, Steeda, and Saleen. These were all designed by third party interests working with Ford. Some of the in-house Ford creations of the Mustang were the ever popular Cobra's and the High Country Series. Ford also offered a Special Service Package for use by law enforcement.

The Ford Mustang was first introduced in 1964, at the World Exhibition of New York, and Americans immediately fell in love with the car. Everyone flocked to Ford showrooms, scrambling to be the first to own a Mustang. Over 22,000 Mustangs were sold on the first day! Sales reached 418,000 in the first year. The first Mustang became known as the 1964陆 and was available in two models, the coupe and the convertible. Features of both models included a lengthened hood and shortened rear deck, chrome wrap-around bumpers, chrome grill with a running horse, full wheel covers and a sporty interior. 2,400. The GT and the fastback model were introduced in 1965. The Shelby GT350 was also introduced in 1965. Its design was a collaboration between Ford and performance car legend, Carroll Shelby. Its goal was to create competition for the Chevy Corvette. The Shelby GT500 Mustang was first released in 1967. It was powered by a 428 V8 engine and sported numerous luxury options.

It was produced until 1970. A new version of the Shelby GT500, considered to be the most powerful factory-built Ford Mustang in history, will be released in 2006. Shelby Cobra GT500's supercharged 5.4-liter DOHC V-8 produces over 450 horsepower. The 1967 Mustang sported simulated air-scoops and a larger grill and it was longer and appeared more aggressive. By 1969, the Mustang became bigger and heavier. New Mustangs were nearly four inches longer. New models introduced in the 1969-1970 model year were the Grande, the Mach 1, the Boss 302 and the Boss 429. The Boss 351 model was introduced in 1971. In 1974, the Mustang II was released. It was smaller and more fuel efficient than previous models. This was also the first year that a convertible was not sold, and the only year that a V8 engine wasn't available. In 1976, the Cobra II package, which added a big rear spoiler, a fake hood scoop and blue stripes across white paint to a V8-powered fastback, was made available.