Mustangs

True American Muscle In today’s world, “a mere 8 percent of households do not own cars” (Exum). Most people not only own a car, but many people also have a favorite car or car company. Most of these companies are located in Asia and other foreign countries throughout the world, but there are still a few automotive businesses that remain in the United States. One of the most well known of those companies is Ford. Its excellent reputation can be credited mostly to its greatest creation, the Mustang. This high-speed car has been a favorite of Americans for years because it has adapted to our society’s changes and has helped the U.S. car industry through many hard times. The Mustang has changed and improved mechanically in many ways throughout the years of its existence. A deeper look into its history shows that the Mustang has paralleled U.S. history and society’s evolving desires for American muscle. The remarkable Mustangs that you see on the road today evolved from the 1964 ½ model which took more than three years to perfect. All of this hard work by the members of the Ford Motor Company was kept a secret for the most part. The public knew nearly nothing of this new car that would soon sweep the American automotive industry. Ford’s Italian-American entrepreneur, Lee Iacocca, formulated the idea to allow several different groups within the company to compete for the Mustang’s design. At this time, there were several names in the mix for Ford’s new wonder. Some of the top candidates were the Cougar, the Bronco, the Puma, the Cheetah, the Colt, the Turino (Italy’s capital at this time), and of course, the Mustang (Brinkley 610). Iacocca decided that their design had to be “distinctively sporty and distinctively styled – preferably with just a dash of foreign flavor. It had to be small and maneuverable, but capable of seating four passengers with room left over for a good-sized trunk. And last, but by no means least, the price had to be aimed at the mass