Mustang mutations and conversions
Remember this post about the Mustang pick-up I did recently. Well it seems like there are loads more of these pick-up like Mustang conversions, Wolfgang Kohrn from ponysite.de gathered a whole bunch of them (with backstories) on his site.
And also from the Mustang wagon there seem to be quite some more copies out there:
Check them all out here. Any other exotic conversions you have seen that you can point me to? Let me know in the comments.
More history and fun facts
It’s not the first time I write about the history of the Ford Mustang, but one of my recent posts had a fact in there that got me searching for some more. It was about how the Mustang already made a first appearance in 1962, whereas to my knowledge first Mustang dates from 1964. So here’s what I found:
“The Ford Mustang has an interesting beginning. A prototype for the first Mustang was raced in the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, New York, in October, 1962. But Lee Iacocca wanted a car that would appeal to more than race car drivers. So, it was back to the drawing board! Ford decided to build an all-new American sports car that was stylish, but affordable.
Ford wanted to introduce the car at the New York World’s Fair in April of 1964. But, it was already the summer of 1962. So, a competition was held in Ford’s design department. The top three designer teams were asked to create a clay model of a car in two weeks!
There were seven different entries in the car contest. The winner of the competition was Dave Ash, assistant to Joe Oros. His design was called the Cougar. He even placed a metal cougar on the grille of the car. The car was painted white with red wheels. Some of the executives didn’t like the name. So, the car was renamed Mustang.”
The article also has some interesting information around the popularity of that first Mustang. We already knew the original Ford Mustang still holds the record for fastest selling car ever, but these facts truly show what it meant in those days:
“The Mustang caused a huge sensation. Car dealerships were swamped with people wanting to get a look at this new and unique American car. People got into fights trying to buy the only one in stock. One dealer sold his model to the highest bidder. The man who bought it insisted on sleeping in the car overnight until his bank opened the next day so nobody else took it away from him! The Mustang was a hot new car and everyone wanted one. By the end of the first year of production, Ford had sold 418,812 Mustangs.”
Curious about some more good historic information about the Mustang, go and have a read here ;)
Hot Wheels?!
A day after posting about one of the most beautiful Mustangs ever, I post what is probably the most ugly Mustang. Well, not a real Mustang but this GT Mustang-based concept car sure is butt-ugly. And it beats me why this is supposed to be a ‘Mustang’, anyway take a look for yourself at what Jalopnik calls an overgrown Hot Wheels car.
Fender Shelby or Mustang Stratocaster?
The Mustang seems to have a thing with guitars, Fender guitars. Or Fender has a thing with the Mustang, not sure who’s taking the lead in this. One thing is sure though, there are plenty of people at both companies that believe there’s a good synergy between them.
It seems like every single model has it’s own guitar ;) There’s the Shelby GT-500 KR Edition Fender Stratocaster which was expected to sell out fast but you can still get them here ($4.999 no less!).
Also the Shelby GT had one some time ago (which apparently did sell out fast) …
and it seems there’s even a Shelby GT-H branded version which I don’t think even went into production. Remember how the 350 GT-H is the Hertz rent-a-racer?
Funny enough, when you go the the Fender website, none of these guitars are mentioned but they do have this one: ‘65 Mustang.
“Small and fast—like a sports car! Fender is proud to reissue the ’65 Mustang guitar (1965 was the first full year of Mustang production). Originally designed as a “student model,” the Mustang was nonetheless destined for greatness, and has been seen slung over the shoulders of great players such as David Byrne, John Frusciante, Kurt Cobain, Todd Rundgren, Graham Coxon and Adrian Belew, to name but a few.”
Finally, there’s one that I could only find on Steedshop.com – the “45 Anniversary” Mustang Fender Accoustic Guitar.
So, looking at all this Mustang guitar goodness – which one would you prefer? I’m not talking about the most expensive or most exclusive necessarily but the one you think makes most sense or looks the coolest of all? Let me know in the poll below.
Mustang Pick-Up
From the ‘here-is-a-Mustang-you-don’t-see-every-day’ department, after the Trike or the Station Wagon, we bring you the Mustang Pick-Up. Nice find from the Mustangblog on Ebay. The auction is still on (as we write this) and current bids go to $500 (reserve not met yet). The auction does mention the Mustang needs full restoration… that is if you even want it of course ;)
Mustang Pick-Up Ebay Auction (until Oct. 20th 2008)
Mustang Wagon
Fact or fiction? There is a great article over at Hemming blogs talking about the Mustang Station Wagon, or at least something that could have been exactly that. Some time ago they posted a photo of a Mustang Station Wagon, along with a claim (not from them though) that Ford actually built two Mustang Station Wagons sometime in 1966. Now that doesn’t sound too crazy, does it? When it comes to body variations of the Ford Mustang, you have the hardtop, convertible and fastback and indeed there’s potentially some room for a 4th: the station wagon. Now I’m not necessarily saying that is a good idea, I’m just saying it makes sense purely looking at the facts ;)
There’s 2 things I particularly like about this story. First since I had never heard about the Wagon until now I think that’s kinda neat, but second and far more impressive to me (as a geek marketer) is how the posting the initial photo at Hemmings blog made the community interact and basically straighten the story out. So the rumour was Ford actually made two Mustang Station Wagons to test the concept and funny enough Hemmings blog had received photos of two different Mustang Station Wagons as well… could they be it?
“I think a lot of the rumors of factory prototype station wagons go back to late 1966, when Intermeccanica built the above Mustang station wagon for advertiser Barney Clark and designer Bob Cumberford and said wagon got exposure in the buff books of the day, including Car Life and on the October 1966 cover of Car and Driver. According to Intermeccanica’s website, the company actually built the wagon in 1965: “A Mustang Station Wagon prototype was built for the W. J. Thompson advertising agency. The car was presented as an idea car to Ford Motor Company.” Jeff Pearce said the Intermeccanica car still exists, though it’s “rusting away somewhere back East.”
Apparently Ford themselves had indeed 2 internal design proposals on the table, but all three of them (their own two and that one of Intermeccanica) rejected, closing down the idea for good. Fascinating story if you ask me. Go and read on all the details at the Hemmings blog.
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