Steve Magnante's 1001 Mustang Facts. Steve Magnante
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could exceed their safe extension range. To prevent rear shock absorber failure, all 1965 GT350s were fitted with a pair of eyebolts above each end of the rear axle housing near the leaf springs. A steel cable was looped around each axle tube and aluminum crimp connectors finished the job. The rough riding Koni shocks were phased out as part of the GT350’s gentrification in 1966 and replaced with Gabriel-made adjustable shocks with internal jounce and rebound safety stops.
98 The wheels installed on the vast majority of 1965 Shelby GT350s were plain pressed steel items measuring 15 × 6 inches. Not to be confused with the base Mustang V-8 14 × 4.5–inch rims (that differed in many respects), the GT350 rims were made by Kelsey-Hayes and came painted a very light champagne color. Notable features included three hubcap retainer bumps and non-rolled spider slot edges. Similar (if not identical) rims were also installed on 1962–1965 full-size Fords with the 406/427 engine option. So scarce are correct 1965 GT350 rims that many restorers “take the easy way out” and install 1966-spec cast-aluminum Shelby 10-spoke rims, despite their smaller 14 × 6–inch size.
What did the GT350 have in common with a 427 Galaxie? See Fact No. 98 for the answer.
99 I have heard numerous reports that Kelsey-Hayes also supplied its 15×6 steel wheels (as used on the 1965 GT350) to manufacturers of industrial trailers. One rumor holds that older Lincoln welding trailers rolled on these desirable rims. Although I haven’t run into any on mobile welding rigs, a 2014 summer visit to Bandimere Speedway revealed their presence on a track-owned soda-vending trailer. With 1965 GT350 restorers paying a reported $1,000 per wheel, I was tempted to leave with more than a Coke that day!
NUMBER CRUNCHING AND PRESS COMMENTARY
100 The 1965 Mustang’s instant popularity broke numerous records and shocked the industry. Ford had hoped for 100,000 first-year sales, but nearly seven times that amount were purchased (680,989). With an average base sticker price of $2,470.60 (excluding any optional equipment), Mustang added $1,682,451,423.40 to corporate coffers. By contrast, the Mustang’s spiritual successor, the two-seat 1955–1957 Thunderbird “Baby Bird” sold 53,166 units in its three-year run. With an average base sticker price of $3,167, the Baby Bird brought in a “paltry” $168,376,722. Put another way, first-year Mustang sales brought in more than 10 times the revenue of the Baby Bird’s entire three-season existence.
101 Iacocca’s “foot-long option list” strategy for Mustang paid off. The modest 1965 base retail price ($2,320.96 hardtop, $2,557.64 convertible, $2,533.19 fastback 2+2) pulled prospective buyers through the door. The real profits came from adding optional equipment. On average, every 1965 Mustang left the dealer with just slightly more than $400 in optional equipment, depositing another $272,395,600 in the Blue Oval bank.
102 The logistical problem of modifying and storing 561 GT350 Mustangs in 1965 forced Carroll Shelby to move from a tiny shop in Venice, California, to a 12½-acre facility on Imperial Highway adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport. Even so, when 1966 output more than quadrupled (2,378 GT350s of all varieties were built that year), even the LAX spot was stretched to capacity. To ease the strain, rather than have the San Jose, California, Mustang feeder plant crank out 2,000-plus cars in a row, roughly two dozen 100-car runs were made, weeks apart, to give everybody some time to settle down.
103 Mustang’s uniqueness attracted buyers who might have otherwise ignored it out of sheer brand loyalty. A full 53 percent of the vehicles traded in for new ’65 Mustangs were non-Ford products. Carmakers love these so-called “conquest” sales. The hope was that buyers would replace their Mustang with another Ford offering when it wore out. Without that first “conquest,” the relationship couldn’t occur.
104 “Long awaited as ‘Ford’s sports car,’ the new model, which goes by the generic code of T-5 (although the specific name may be something like ‘Torino’), may be aimed to fill the void created when the Thunderbird went to four-passenger size for 1958. It may also be a 4-passenger vehicle, but on the ‘two-plus-two’ basis popularized by certain European Gran Turismo cars.” That prediction appeared in the March 1964 issue of Car Life magazine and accompanied a four-page story reviewing the many Ford experimental and show cars that preceded the actual Mustang. The Torino nameplate predicted here didn’t see use on a Ford passenger car until 1968. The alternate spelling (Turino) hadn’t been used yet.
105 The Mustang sales success story was obvious within weeks of its Friday, April 17, 1964, introduction. Practically overnight, the word mustang went from the name of a legendary World War II fighter plane to a synonym for marketing brilliance. Restaurant owners got onto the bus with quips such as, “Our hotcakes are selling like Mustangs.”
106 To clarify some of the confusion surrounding important dates in the Mustang timeline, here’s a review of milestone moments: March 9, 1964: The Dearborn Assembly Plant (DAP) begins Mustang production in Michigan. July 13, 1964: To help meet West Coast demand, Ford’s San Jose, California, plant begins Mustang production. July 14, 1964: Author Steve Magnante is born. (HA! You caught it!) February 1, 1965: Yet another Ford plant assumes Mustang production as the Metuchen, New Jersey, plant goes online to bolster East Coast supply. To learn which plant assembled your 1965–1966 Mustang, read the second character in the VIN: F = Dearborn; R = San Jose; T = Metuchen.
107 The night before its Friday, April 17, introduction, the world’s first Mustang TV ad appeared simultaneously on all three major television networks at the top of the 9:00 p.m. time slot. The 60-second spot featured a snazzy red 260 V-8 convertible shown in a series of static and action settings. Ford paid NBC, CBS, and ABC dearly for the blanket exposure, but was rewarded with more than four million showroom visitors by the end of that weekend.
108 At the time of the Mustang’s television debut on the evening of April 16, 1964, only 8,160 had been built. The number was calculated to ensure that every U.S. Ford dealer had at least one Mustang to display in his showroom. Tales of impromptu bidding wars breaking out among showroom visitors are based in fact. One Garland, Texas, Ford dealer basked in the once-in-a-lifetime experience of having 15 would-be customers bidding on his one and only Mustang demonstrator. The winning bidder slept in the car until his check cleared.
109 More than 6.9 million vehicles rolled off the end of Ford’s Metuchen, New Jersey, assembly plant between 1948 and 2004. That’s a huge accomplishment for a factory that, technically, doesn’t exist! Here’s the deal. When it first opened in 1948 as part of Ford’s massive post–World War II expansion, Edison Township, New Jersey, was so small that it lacked a post office. Ford traditionally named its assembly plants after the municipality of their mailing addresses, so the company named the 100-acre factory after the closest town that did have a post office, Metuchen, New Jersey. The Metuchen plant built Mustangs through the 1971 model year.
110 Traditionally relegated to second place (after Chevrolet) in total market share among domestic carmakers, Ford had cause for celebration when Mustang sales pushed Ford into first place in 1966. With 2,426,617 1966 Fords built (607,568 of them Mustangs), Chevrolet lost its lead with “only” 2,142,035 1966 domestic passenger car sales. The release of the Camaro in 1967 slowed the Mustang’s charge and sent Ford back to second place in 1967 (1,948,416 Chevys sold versus 1,731,227 Fords).
111 Lee Iacocca’s initial estimate that 100,000 Mustangs would sell in its first year was pushed up to 240,000 units as the April 17, 1964 release date approached. Even that proved to be uncharacteristically off target. By September 1, 1964, the 100,000 unit marker was surpassed and by mid-September of the following year (as the 1965 model year closed), the now-legendary 680,989 sales total was achieved. It was an all-time auto industry record for first-year sales.
112 As you marvel at Mustang’s sales success, it is important to remember that Ford worked with a somewhat stacked deck. By starting production in March 1964, yet identifying (and numbering) the cars as 1965 models, Ford enjoyed a 17-month model year. Regardless, there is no question that Mustang’s long-hood/short-deck configuration was a hit with buyers of all