The image is indelible: One hot car, the symbol of ?60s cool, tearing through the streets of San Francisco, Steve McQueen behind the wheel of a 1968 Mustang Fastback.
If Mustangs hadn?t excited the public before, this surely would have sealed the deal.
From its inception in 1962, Ford’s Mustang, whose early proponents included Robert McNamara and Lee Iococca, struck emotional chords with buyers.
The first car rolled off the assembly line on March 9, 1964, and was introduced the following month at the New York World?s Fair and in a subsequent television advertising campaign.
Originally available as a convertible or coupe, fastbacks were added in 1965. Body designs changed ? and grew ? over the years, until the early 1970s, when the largest Mustangs were produced.
A gasoline crunch resulted in downsizing in 1974, and performance was traded for better fuel economy. But the marque experienced a resurgence, albeit gradual at first, in 1979.
Mustangs continue to be a part of the Ford lineup, with the Shelby GT500 the latest in the stable of hot Mustangs.
So what accounts for Mustang’s staying power, when competitors have come and gone? “It was everybody?s car,” said Jack Cornely, owner of Maryland Mustang, an automotive shop in Millersville and a longtime Mustang fan.
“It is the most popular car ever, ever,” he continued, pointing out that it took but 20 months to sell one million.
Indeed, Mustangs “sold themselves,” according to Jake Fuller. Now a salesman at Al Packer Ford in Baltimore, Fuller worked at King Ford on Eastern Avenue when Mustangs were first introduced.
“It was little, a four-passenger car. It was a nice-shaped car, it was sporty, and it was easy to get in and out of,” he said. “Everybody wanted one. People went crazy for them. We sold them before we could get them off the truck.”
He remembers the first one he sold. “It was a ?64-1/2, although it was titled a ?65. A young girl bought it; it was a burgundy convertible. She put $1,000 down and had 36 monthly payments of $86. I remember thinking, ?That girl is never going to be able to pay for that car.? ”
