One of the world’s most popular cars was introduced to the public on April 17, 1964, at the New York’s World Fair. The night before, the new Ford Mustang was the pace car at a stock car race in my hometown–Huntsville, Alabama. The car appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek.
Advertisements appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers and on the major television networks. More than four million people visited showrooms, and more than 22,000 cars were ordered on the first day. First-year sales totaled more than 417,000, shattering previous sales records of any one model in the history of the automobile.
The Mustang was selected to pace the Indianapolis 500 in 1964. Click here for more info.
The Mustangs produced for the first six months or so were referred to as 1964 1/2 or early 1965 Mustangs. All of the VINs began with a 5, indicating model year 1965. The easiest way to tell a 1964 1/2 Mustang from a 1965 is that the front edge of the hood was roll under in 1965 and was not in 1964.
The Mustang got its own US Postage stamp in 1999. The stamp featured a 1964 1/2 Mustang convertible.
