The production Mustang was officially launched in April 1964. A 2+2-seater, it was offered in hardtop coupe form, as a convertible or with a raked fastback bodystyle. The underpinnings were conventional Detroit: a live rear axle with leaf springs and independent suspension up front, and drum brakes all round as standard (discs were optional), though testers praised the car's torsional rigidity and almost European-like handling dynamics. The engine choices ranged from a 100bhp 3.2-litre six-cylinder to a 289-inch (4.7-litre) V8 giving up to 250bhp, and buyers could choose from three- or four-speed manual or three-speed auto gearboxes. Prices started from well under $2,500, as targeted by Iacocca - around half the price of Chevrolet's new Corvette - and buyers could effectively build their own car, pick'n'mixing from the engine, specification and extensive option choices, still quite a novelty. A sportier chassis set-up and later, a GT package were offered - disc brakes, driving lights, sportier trim - but the Mustang was not intended to be a car for the hardcore enthusiast. Ford spent much of the development money it had saved by using recycled Falcon and Fairlane components on marketing: a huge advertising campaign was launched, 100 cars were lent to the American media - and the public loved it. Over 22,000 orders were taken the day it went on sale, and in its first year, over 418,000 Mustangs were sold. By its second birthday, sales had topped the million mark.
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Motorsport legend and Cobra-maker Carroll Shelby entered the Mustang scene in 1965, building 36 lightweight, 350(ish)bhp Mustang GT-350 models to compete in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race series. The Ford-approved Shelby-American GT-350 was then offered in road-going form, producing around 305bhp, enough to compete with the Corvette. In all its variants, the Mustang was a runaway success; it broke all records for sales and new rivals, such as the Plymouth Barracuda, couldn't begin to emulate its success. It effectively gave a name to a whole new class of car and market sector: small, relatively affordable sports cars became known as "pony cars", in tribute to the Mustang's rearing horse badge.
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The first freshening-up came in 1965, and Ford wisely resisted the temptation to mess with a winning formula. The honeycomb grille was replaced by a multi-bar mouth, all models received a GT-style dash and there were other minor changes to styling details. The engine range was reduced, with just the six-cylinder and the 289-cubic inch V8 in three states of tune; Shelby continued to offer the GT-350. More extensive changes came in 1966, pre-empting the challenges from the upcoming Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird. Now 2.5 inches wider and half an inch taller, the fastback gained a more sweeping roofline, the convertible was restyled below the waistline to give it a chunkier look, and the taillights now comprised triple-light units. The '67 model-year Mustang was more aggressive-looking, and it continued to sell like wildfire. Concepts such as the Mach 1 previewed new design touches, and each year brought new options for modification, personalisation and sporting-up of the basic 'Stang, many styled by Larry Shinoda, the designer of the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray poached from GM by Ford in 1969. Shinoda smoothed out the Mustang's nose and developed aerodynamic body kits, spoilers and design features.
Ford took the high-performance model and motorsport programme back in-house in 1969, after an uneasy relationship with Shelby, who felt that he had done all he could with the Mustang after producing the Cobra Jet and GT-500 KR versions - the latter a 400bhp-plus monster with a 428-cu in (7-litre) V8. The Mach 1 went on sale for 1970, with a 5.7 V8 or the 7.0-litre (developing around 300bhp); this had Shelby-developed rear suspension, a limited-slip differential and distinctive air scoops on the bonnet, and became known as "the Shaker". As the Mustang Mk 1 went into its final years, Ford went horsepower-crazy, launching the Boss 302 and then the wider, better-handling Boss 351, with sheer grunt making up for the car's old-tech structure and engineering. But federal emissions controls and noise legislation were closing in, and the final Mustangs suffered from detuning in an attempt to meet the new mandatory requirements. This softened the blow for Mustang II...
