| Early Mustang Prototypes |
These are some of the other prototypes that led to the making of the Ford Mustang. At first, I somehow didn't realize the little dates on those little stand things (don't know what to call them) right next to the car. Its obvious that the cars on the right were made in August of 1962; oddly two months before the release of the Mustang I Prototype that got much more attention. This leads me to wonder why some places call this a 1964 concept. I've read that Lee Iacocca had a inter-studio design contest between six different teams in order to find the best example of what to base the Mustang off of. Anyway, as you can tell, two of the pictures (all 3 have it though) have a clawing cougar emblem on the grille, instead of a galloping horse. At the time, Cougar was a very possible name for the car, along with Puma, Cheetah, T-Bird II, and the obvious...MUSTANG. The two cars on the right are clay models developed by Dave Ash and John Oros who were one of the 6 teams who entered
contest.
This prototype was unveiled to a small number on June. 29, 1962. As you can see, it didn't quite reach out and grab you in any way whatsoever. It also contains just about the ugliest hood scoop I have ever seen.
This concept was unveiled at Ford on July. 27, 1962. Once again, you can tell that this car also lacks much emotion or sleekness also. In fact, it makes me think of a Corvair mixed with a tiny bit of Fairlane.
This concept was revealed at Ford on August. 16, 1962. This was definitely the most exotic out of the ones I found. It has very sleek lines and a sexy appearance, but I think they needed to fix up the rear end of the car. Also, I'd be even more scared to get hit by that thing than anything else...THAT FRONT END LOOKS SHARP! Speaking of the front end, eliminate everything but the front grille and the hood (forget those sharp fender edges) and you'll see what might remind you a bit of a Camaro front end. *I can't help but wonder what the cars in the background were.*
This prototype; dated September. 7, 1962 looks the toughest of the bunch. It gives off strong, muscular feeling, but as the rest of the prototypes leaves out "coolness". I personally think guys in their 40s would go after this car, not the 20 year old age group Ford was looking for with the Mustang.
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