CELEBRATING 45 YEARS OF MUSTANG

Image by PercyGermany via Flickr

It was April 17, 1964, when Ford unveiled the original long hood, short deck pony car—the Mustang—at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Ford is now preparing to celebrate the car's 45th Anniversary.
18. Mustang Turns 25, Steers Wins
In its silver anniversary year, Mustang returned to Trans-Am as rookie driver Dorsey Schroeder drove Ford’s anniversary car, numbered 25, while Lynn St. James returned to a Mustang. Schroeder won his very first race on his way to six season wins, a drivers’ championship and a leading role in Ford’s first Trans-Am manufacturers’ title since 1970
19. A Winning Tradition
The Roush Mustangs carried on the winning tradition in 1986 with eight more GTO wins and another manufacturers’ title for Ford. Scott Pruett scored seven of those wins and claimed the GTO drivers’ championship, as well as the GT Endurance Championship—with more than a little help from Bruce Jenner.
20. Manufacturing a Winner Again
In 1985 nine Mustang victories brought Ford its first road-racing manufacturers’ championship since '70. Three of those wins belonged to Lyn St. James, the first ever for a woman in the series.
21. A Marathon of Wins
In February 1984, Wally Dallenbach Jr., John Jones and Doc Bundy won GTO class at the Daytona 24 Hours—the first of three consecutive Mustang victories in the season-opening marathon.
22. King of the GTO
A Roush-prepared Mustang, driven by Willy T. Ribbs and Wally Dallenbach Jr., won GTO class in the three-hour IMSA ’84 season finale at Daytona. It was the beginning of a Mustang reign as king of GTO.
23. In Hot Pursuit!
In 1983 The California Highway Patrol purchased 400 Mustangs to help troopers keep pace with high-speed pursuits.
24. Back in the Saddle
In Ford’s resurgent racing program of the 1980s, Mustang figured prominently from the beginning in '81. In International MotorSports Association GT racing, the turbocharged Miller Mustang, driven by Klaus Ludwig, came within a 10th of a second of winning its first race ahead of the dominant Porsche 935 Turbos. Ludwig then made the threat a reality with back-to-back victories at Brainerd and Sears Point.
25. Hometown Hero
In SCCA road racing, Mustang became the first domestic car ever to win the Showroom Stock, a national championship, when Ron Smaldone drove his turbo Mustang to victory at Road Atlanta.
26. Pro-formance
Pro Stock gained popularity, and by 1975 a now-familiar name was in the record books. Bob Glidden drove a Ford Pinto to his first Pro Stock championship in ’74, and then switched to Mustang for ’75, winning four national events and his second NHRA championship—Mustang’s first Pro Stock title.
27. Trick Pony
Mustang was a favorite of short-track stock car racers through most of the 1970s. In '72, Dick Trickle raced a Mustang to a national record of 67 short track feature wins in one season.
28. Performance Pause?
Budget cuts, the oil embargoes and economic recession all contributed to the end of factory backing for Mustang's racing career in the 1970s—and to the end of the so-called muscle-car era. Of course, it didn't mean that Mustangs stopped racing.
29. Triple Threat
To performance enthusiasts, 1969 was dominated by the hottest Mustangs ever—428 Mach 1, Boss 429 and Boss 302.
30. You Better Slow That Mustang Down
The Mustang has inspired not only car enthusiasts but lyricists as well. In 1966 Mustang Sally was released by Wilson Pickett and is still a tune that continues to be covered by artists today.
31. A Top Performance
In 1967, Mustang 390 GT wins Cars magazine’s Top Performance Car of the Year.
32. One Million and Still Counting
In 1966 the millionth Mustang was built just before its second birthday in March '66.
33. Championship Heaven in ’67
In the 1967 Trans-Am series, Jerry Titus chalked up four more victories in a Shelby Mustang, won the drivers’ title and Ford took a second straight manufacturers’ championship. Mustang also won another SCCA B-Production road-racing title.
34. Prize Ponies
Jerry Titus, Bob Johnson and Mark Donohue drove GT-350s to national titles in 1965, and the GT-350 went on to win SCCA B-Production national championships for three straight years.
35. The man behind the Cobra Jet 428
Frustrated in the '60s when potential buyers would leave his dealership because the Mustang wasn’t fast enough, drag racer and owner of Tasca Ford in Rhode Island, Bob Tasca Sr. decided to take matters into his own hands. Using parts from the Ford service parts catalog, Tasca and his dealership team created their own engine: the Cobra Jet 428. On the drag strip, his engine blew away the competition thus resulting in a demand for the 428.
36. Shelby’s First Contribution
On Jan. 27, 1965, the first Shelby Mustang, a 1965 Shelby GT350, made its public debut. The car was an instant hit at the track. Shelby continued to make performance Mustangs for Ford until 1970. He rejoined forces with Ford in 2005 when he created the 2006 special-edition Shelby GT-H.
37. Racin’ to the Finish Line
By 1965 Ford was involved with cars competing in the National Hot Rod Association’s Factory Experimental, or A/FX class. Ten race ready Mustangs were built, and five of them qualified in the Factory Stock Eliminator field at the ’65 NHRA Winternationals. Bill Lawton drove his Tasca Ford Mustang A/FX to victory in the car’s very first race.
38. On the Right Track
A little more than a month after its April 17 introduction, Mustang was on the race track as a pace car leading the 1964 Indianapolis 500. Before the year was out, Mustang was a winner in competition, finishing first and second in class in the 1964 Tour de France International Rally.
39. The Born Identity
The first Mustang's VIN Number was 5F08F100001.
40. How much is that Pony in the window?
The base price upon introduction of the first Mustang was $2360.
41. Stampede!
April 17, 1964, people attacked the Ford showrooms. Everyone was in a frenzy to be one of the first to own the Mustang. Ford sold over 22,000 Mustangs the first day. By the end of the year, Ford had sold 263,434. By the end of the Mustang's first anniversary, April 17, 1965, Ford had sold 418,812 Mustangs.
42. The commercial that started it all
Ford was not unaware of how popular the car would be. They announced when the first television commercial would be shown and on April 16, 1964 at 9:30 pm on all three major television networks ABC, NBC and CBS, 29 million people tuned in to see it.
43. The name
The name Mustang was suggested by executive stylist John Najjar because he was an aficionado of the P-51 Mustang fighter plane of World War II.
44. 1962
Ford unveils a new car on October 7, 1962 during U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, N.Y., the Mustang.
45. The birth of a legend
In 1961, Lee Iacocca, vice president and general manager of Ford Division, had a vision. His vision was a car that would seat four people, have bucket seats, a floor mounted shifter, be no more than 180 inches long, weigh less than 2500 pounds, and sell for less than $2500.00. Out of this vision, the Ford Mustang was born.

2008 COBRA JET FEATURED IN FORD RACING OUTREACH PROGRAM FOR SPORTSMAN RACERS

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When the 40th Anniversary Cobra Jet Mustang won the 2009 NHRA Winternationals at Pomona last month, duplicating the success of the original Cobra Jet, the interest level in the latest race-ready offering from Ford Motor Company shot through the roof. Now Ford Racing is providing an in depth look at the CJ with a series of Cobra Jet meetings at ten-selected NHRA events.

“The attention focused on the Cobra Jet is unlike anything I have seen in the sportsman class in many years in racing,” said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford Racing Technology and an NHRA competition license holder since 1992. “With all 50 CJ’s sold and now scattered around the United States, there are a number of sportsman who want to get an up close look at the Cobra Jet. We decided to do a series of town hall style meetings where the sportsman racer can come and see the Cobra Jet and talk with representatives from Ford Racing and learn not only about the Cobra Jet but about our program and some of Ford Racing’s offerings for the sportsman racer.”

The Cobra Jet outreach will kick off this week with a gathering on Thursday night March 12 at 7:30 pm at the Tasca Racing Motorcraft/Quick Lane hospitality in the NHRA Pro Pits. The event is open to all sportsman racers who hold a competition license. This week’s program will feature Ford Racing NHRA Program Manager Jesse Kershaw and Bob Tasca III driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Funny Car, whose grandfather created the original Cobra Jet Mustang in 1968.

“This event provides an opportunity for the racers to see the Cobra Jet up close and talk with some of the people who have been involved in building these cars,” said Wolfe. “We're soliciting feedback directly from racers on the Cobra Jet as we investigate interest in future dedicated drag race packages. If someone doesn’t want to wait for the next generation there are parts available through Ford Racing to build your own Cobra Jet. All this and more will be discussed on Thursday.”

Cobra Jet meetings are tentatively scheduled for ten NHRA events this season. Time and location is subject to change so look for updates on Ford Racing.com for the latest Cobra Jet gathering. The NHRA events include:

March 12-15 – NHRA Gatornationals (Gainesville, Fla.)
June 4-7 – NHRA Route 66 Nationals (Joliet, Ill.)
June 11-14 – NHRA SuperNationals (Englishtown, N.J.)
June 25-28 – Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals (Norwalk, Ohio)
July 10-12 –NHRA Mile-High NHRA Nationals (Denver, Colo.) Quick Lane display only
Sept. 2-7 – Mac Tools U.S. Nationals (Indianapolis)
Sept. 17-20 – NHRA Nationals (Charlotte, N.C.)
Sept. 24-27 – O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals (Dallas)
Oct. 29-Nov. 1 – Las Vegas NHRA Nationals (Las Vegas)
Nov. 12-15 – Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals (Pomona, Calif.)

TASCA III WINS 1ST CAREER NHRA FUNNY CAR

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The fastest driver on Friday morning was the last driver standing on Sunday in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series Funny Car class. In his first Funny Car finals, Bob Tasca III in the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang won Sunday’s 40th Annual Gatornationals.

“I’m speechless,” said Tasca. “We qualified our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang No. 1, and we beat Tim Wilkerson, John Force and Tony Pedregon to get the first win. This is just a real tribute to the whole Motorcraft/Quick Lane program. To bring the first win home for Ford this year in the NHRA Funny Car class is really special. It’s a dream come true for me.”

On Sunday afternoon, Tasca went round for round with some of the series best en route to his first career win. In the first round won, Tasca defeated Jim Head. During the second round, he defeated teammate Tim Wilkerson. Tasca faced his mentor John Force in the third round. In the finals, Tasca defeated friend Tony Pedregon.

“John Force. What can you say? He’s the man. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for John Force. Tony Pedregon is my best friend. Tim Wilkerson coming on board and working with us,” said Tasca. “It is pretty special to beat those guys and walk away with your first Wally [trophy] and we are leaving here second in the points. That isn’t too shabby.”

It was 27 months since Bob Tasca hired Chris Cunningham as his crew chief. The two went to work and 27 races later, they celebrate victory.

“It all started out with a phone call to Chris Cunningham where I tried to convince him to come work with a guy that had no employees, no parts and it was less than two months from Pomona [2008]. I said, ‘Chris, trust me. We’ll be great together.’ He’s done a remarkable job with what he’s done and handpicked the guys around us. I said to him from day one, ‘Chris, I just want to be in a position to win. I’ll give you all the resources that you need to give me a great race car.’ It started in the spring at Pomona last year and we had our struggles in the first year,” recalled Tasca.

“Our [2009] season started the day after the fall at Pomona,” continued Tasca. “We went to Las Vegas and ran the wheels off this hot rod, then we went to Palm Beach, then we went to Phoenix. We put a quarter-season on this Shelby Mustang before we even rolled into Pomona for the season opener. We’re just determined. You just get a sense when you talk to us that we’re determined to win. I can assure you if we have anything to do about, this isn’t our last trophy. We have a top caliber program right now.”

Tasca is fond of the Florida track, “It’s real exciting. That right lane has been awfully good to me; I might even kiss it before I leave. I set the world record in Alcohol Funny Car and won my first race in that lane. To win today, in that lane, was a pretty special day for me.”

Later in the week, Tasca returns Tasca Ford dealership in Rhode Island. “My grandfather’s saying back in the 60s was ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.’ The dynamic has certainly changed. Heck, they used to win with the cars you could buy in the showroom and today that’s not the case. At the end of the day ‘Win on Sunday and sell on Monday’ is what this program is all about. We have just as much emphasis with the off-track initiatives with Motorcraft, Quick Lane and Ford as we do on the track.”