How many of you remember the movie Bullitt? Especially that famous chase scene, where Steve McQueen chases a bad guy in a Dodge Charger down the streets of San Francisco? Steve, being the hero, is in something equally quick and brutish — the Ford Mustang GT390. Eventually, the bad guy meets his demise when his car goes belly up into a petrol bunk and lights up in flames. That one scene defined the way the Mustang was always perceived — a hero car for the masses.
Ford have ridden high and far on the success of the Mustang. Having sold over nine million units to date, the Mustang has a cult following very few muscle cars can match up to. Conceptualised by Donald Frey and Lee Iacocca in 1964, and named after the famous P-51 Mustang fighter of World War II (a name suggested by stylist John Najjar), it has come a long way since then. The first of the
Mustangs — the 1964 ½ — used a lot of parts from the then Ford Fairlane and Falcon. The company believed it could sell about 1,00,000 cars in its first year, but eventually, after a single advertisement appearing in 2500 newspapers on the day of the launch, the company sold a million cars in its first 18 months. There was no looking back after that for the car.
The first Mustang was powered by a 101 bhp engine that was best termed adequate. But Ford had other plans for the car. From the 1966 Switchback to the 1969 Boss 429, the cars started to get more and more powerful. With large 6 and 7.0-litre V8s pushing out a massive 250 to 400 bhp and more, the Mustang was outgrowing itself really quickly. From the nascent drag scene to club and country races at race tracks across the United States, the car was becoming a permanent fixture wherever performance cars were called for, with tuning greats like Caroll Shelby and Steve Saleen creating their own interpretations of the pony car. The Mustang also kept pace with the times, like the Mustang II that survived the oil crisis of the 1970s. Or even the third generation Mustang, that shared a lot of parts with Mazda.
Somehow, the Mustang seemed to lose the plot with time. And the fourth generation never developed the deep sense of respect enthusiasts had for the generations gone by. More than a decade of struggles later, Ford realised it was best to bring back the original and the 2005 Mustang would be just that. The fifth generation is more in line with the looks and appeal of the first one that made it such a roaring success. From the humble V6 to the GT500 KR (King of the Road) with 540 bhp, the current Mustang is a true brute. In fact, the updated Mustang that was released late last year has been well received too, even in these days of recession.
This is why the Mustang Club of America decided it was time to honour the car for its achievements. And in its 45th year, 2000 Mustangs of different eras and 38,000 fans from all over the world turned up at Barber Sports Arena in Alabama for four days of pure adrenaline gushing moments. Whether it was talking Mustangs, driving them and showboating around, the enthusiasts had a whale of a time. We just can’t wait to see what the golden jubilee celebrations have in store for us five years from now.