1964 Ford Mustang: Birth of a Legend

April 17, 1964. The biggest news on this long ago spring day wasn't made by LBJ, the Beatles, or the New York World's Fair grand opening.

April 17 was announcement day for the Ford Mustang!

Never before had a new car made the cover of both Time and Newsweek.

Suddenly, bigger wasn't better. More expensive wasn't necessarily more prestigious. The stampede was on. College students, little old ladies, celebrities. They all had Mustang fever. People waited in lines at dealerships just to sit in the sporty car with its long hood, bobbed trunk and $2,368 sticker price. Of course, Ford was happy to add options that quickly raised the sticker to near $4,000 for a loaded V8 convertible.

In its first year, Mustang sales totaled 417,318 units, a record that still stands. Inevitably, the competitors arrived. Marlin, Camaro, Cougar, Firebird, Javelin, Dodge Challenger...

Today, more than four decades later, only the Mustang thrives and survives in a stunning retro design. According to Krause Publications' Old Cars Price Guide, a 1965 Mustang GT convertible can be worth up to $60,000.

At a press preview for the original Mustang, one reporter asked Lee
Iacocca, then General Manager of the Ford Division, why the horse in
the grille was galloping the wrong way, per U.S. racetrack custom.
Iacocca grinned, "The Mustang isn't tame, it's a runaway."

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