[COLOR=#333333][FONT=Helvetica][SIZE=14px][FONT=lucida sans unicode]The first ever Mustang rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964, and was launched for the general public at the New York World’s Fair on April 17, 1964. It made a special appearance in the James Bond film 'Goldfinger'in September of the same yar. It was one of the most successful product launches in automotive history. The Mustang sold over one million units in its first 18 months on the market. The Mustang remains in production today after many decades and numerous revisions.
This evolution has gone through many stages, 6 to be precise, and the latest offering has a lot to offer to the Indian customer. After 3 consecutive successful launches, Fod India has decided to enter the Coupe/Fastback segment to give the Audi TT and BMW Z4 serious nightmares. This is the evolution of a Mustang over the last 50 years, which has helped it become a true symbol of American heritage.
The first-gen Mustang (1964-73) sold well over the company's targeted 100,000 models and went to hit the half-million milestone within the same year! The power rating of the first-gen 'tang was at a respectable 105 bhp, with 156lb-ft of torque using its in-line 6 cylinder engine.The design philosophy has been carried forward ever since, and so is the name - the 'pony' car.[/FONT]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n3747[/ATTACH][/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR] [CENTER][FONT=lucida sans unicode][COLOR=#333333][SIZE=14px][SIZE=10px]Courtesy : Autoevolution.com[/SIZE][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/CENTER]
[SIZE=14px][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Helvetica][FONT=lucida sans unicode]Further on, Ford went ahead and launched the 'BOSS' & 'Mach 1' variants of the Mustang in 1969-70. The Boss 429 version was the biggest, baddest Mustang ever sold and with the 350 hp power on offer, it soon gained massive popularity and still remains the car of choice for some fanatics. [/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=14px][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Helvetica][FONT=lucida sans unicode]The 2nd generation of this beast was introduced in 1974 and was in production till 1978. This car was greatly influenced by the Italian coach-builder "Ghia". Was this meant was basically a smaller, more efficient engine, well suited for that time period. It was re-named the "Mustang II" and was sold by the dozen. The engines on offer were the 2.3-litre and 2.8-litre V6. This car sent the sales sky-rocketing for Ford, despite a convertible not being included in the line-up.[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=14px][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Helvetica][FONT=lucida sans unicode]This generation of the 'stangs also got their share of steroids in form of a 4.9-litre V8 that was introduced in 1975 under "Cobra" and "Stallion" names. These cars went on to be hugely popular with the more enthusiastic consumer. The "King Cobra" was introduced towards the end of 1978, and become an iconic car with the snake sticker on the hood.[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=14px][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Helvetica][FONT=lucida sans unicode]The 1979 Ford Mustang was the 3rd-gen pony, based on the [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Fairmont"]Ford Fairmount[/URL] platform. It was the longest-selling production variant by Ford and was produced right up till 1993. The '79 model had a rather weird looking exterior with the eggcrate-grill, and quad rectangular headlamps which were in tune with the design philosophies of the Pontiac Firebird & Chevy Camaro of the time.The engine choices included a 88hp, 2.3-liter Pinto inline-four cylinder, a 109 hp 2.8-liter V6 and a 140 hp 4.9-liter V8, which were all carried over from the second-gen car. Later in it's life, the inline-four Pinto was replaced by a 3.3-liter straight-six along with a brand new 132 hp 2.3-liter turbo four, which offered nearly the same power as the earlier V8.[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Sentinel A][FONT=lucida sans unicode] That 4.9-liter unit was replaced by a more efficient 4.2-liter unit.[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=16px][COLOR=#333333][FONT=Sentinel A][FONT=lucida sans unicode][SIZE=14px]This model also had a lot of mid-life updates with changes in the facade and exterior. This was the 1983 facelift :[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[COLOR=#252525][FONT=sans-serif][SIZE=14px][FONT=lucida sans unicode]The 1987 Mustang received a facelift for both the interior and exterior. The exterior design was reminiscent of the earlier SVO and gave the car more of an "Aero" look, in keeping with Ford's overall styling direction.[/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]
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