1964 1/2 Mustang Made Quite A Splash
The Ford Motor Company has been around for a long time, and over the years they have manufactured some of the most important American cars ever built. It all started with the Ford Model T which came out in 1908 and was ultimately voted the most influential vehicle of the 20th century.
But if you fast-forward to 1964 you will see the birth of another Ford that was one of the most influential motor vehicles of the century: the quintessential pony car we know as the Ford Mustang.
The Mustang made its debut on April 17 of 1964 at the World’s Fair in New York, and they were officially 1965 models. However, true Mustang aficionados refer to the earliest wave of Mustangs the “1964 1/2” models.
During the Mustang’s first model year the car was available as either a coupe or a convertible. The engine options that were available in the 1965 Mustang initially were a tame 170 cubic inch 101 hp six-cylinder; a 260 cubic inch V-8 that would put out 164 hp; and a 289 cubic inch 210 hp V-8. Starting in June of 1964 they added a 289 cubic inch V-8 with a four barrel that packed a wallop at 271 hp.
The Mustang was incredibly successful from the start and the success led to other companies rushing to put out a competitor. Although the Mustang is the quintessential pony car, an interesting historical fact is that the Plymouth Barracuda, a car that also became known as a pony car, was introduced to the buying public a couple of weeks before the Mustang on April Fools’ Day of 1964.
How successful was the Mustang early on? In all there were 559,451 1965 Mustangs produced including the so-called 1964 1/2 models. The one millionth Mustang rolled off the assembly line just a year and a half after the first one left the factory.