Ford mustang is the popular automobile came into existence through Ford Company. The name of the automobile was actually recommended by Executive stylist John Najjar. He got the idea of the name mustang from the P-51 Mustang which was a fighter plane in World War II. Ford mustangs are well known for their short rear decks and long hoods. After the release of first generation of these mustangs there aroused lots of competitors who started preparing models similar to ford mustang. The first model production was actually based on the fords falcon which is a very compact car.
The first generation of ford mustangs ruled the market starting from 1964 and continued till 1973. Its seat capacity was only two with engine mounted in the front part of the car. This car was later modified for four seats and the cost was reduced to increase the demand of the market. The sales rate met nearly 100,000 units in the first year itself. The first generation cars production met one million in the first two years time.
The second generation ford mustangs came into the market during the year 1974. Here the car was designed meeting the new pollution laws and the fuel efficiency was increased. This car came into the market during the first energy crisis period. Its reduced size increased the demand hugely. This car was available in the market with two versions called as hatchback and coupe versions. The changes made for this generation cars included the increase of fuel capacity to “5.0 L”. The previous fuel capacity was “4.94 L”. The performance of this car was reduced with the increase in cars handling.
The third generation cars attacked the market during the year of 1978 and continued till 1993. It was designed taking larger fox platform as a basic model. This generation mustangs were redesigned to provide more comfort to the buyers. The seating capacity was for four members. But the difference between the older generation four seat ones and this one is that here the rear seat got changed to a comfortable one compared to a smaller rear seat in older ones. Keeping in mind about the reduced demand of the cars and increased fuel prices ford changed the model of the car to a less price one. But the enthusiasts requested the Ford about canceling the idea to change the design of the car. This gave result to major facelift of the car in 1987.
The fourth generation cars ruled the market from 1994 to 2004. The new model car included the updating of rear wheel drive and added several styling cues. The starting model in this generation consisted of 3.8 OHV V6 engine and the engine was tuned to 145 hp. This rating of the engine continued till 1995 starting from 1994. In 1996 the horse power of the engine was tuned to 150 hp. The speed transmission during the year 1996 was changed to 5-speed with manual transmission. It also had 4-speed automatic transmission. 4.6 L V8 model of this generation had 215 hp engines till 1997 and it was increased to 225 hp during 1998. In 2004 they changed the horse power to 260 hp which increased the sales in a surprising manner. In the years of 2002 and 2003 Mustang SVT cobra was rated as the best sports car. The cobra had 4.6 L version with dual overhead camshaft. The increased demand continued for the other seven years and in 2005 Ford GT supercar and in 2007 Shelby GT500 made the same and increased demand.
Fifth generation came into the market during 2005 with total changes in the model. The code name of this model is “S-197”. This is based on D2C platform. The base model engine is rated to 210 hp and cast-iron block 4.0 L SOHC V6 substituted the 3.8 L pushrod V6 that was used before. The Tremec T-5 manual is replaced with the heavier task Tremec TR-3650 5-speed manual transmission.
The revised 2010 model was unveiled on the internet during 2008 Los Angeles International Auto Show.
