On April 17, 1964, Ford presented the first generation Mustang, based on the Ford Falcon, as a coupe and as a convertible. This created the pony car class, which was later named after this car. Behind the development of the Ford Mustang are Lee Iacocca, who was called the "Father of the Mustang", Gale Halderman, who made the first sketches that would eventually become the original Pony Car, and Harold K. "Hal" Sperling, who carried out the successful production as an engineer.

The Mustang was a great success from the start. The vehicle was intended to appeal to a young, sporty audience and could be purchased from $2.368 (in today's purchasing power and adjusted for inflation, this equates to about $21.000[4]). By the evening of the official sales launch, April 17, 1964, approximately 22.000 vehicles had already been sold. By the end of the first (although far too long) model year, 680.992 units had been sold. This was a record in the US. It was clear that this filled a gap in the market whose size had not been anticipated. Ford optimistically expected 240.000 units to be sold. Neither the Chevrolet Corvair Monza, which was similar in concept and was built from 1960 onwards, nor the Plymouth Barracuda, which appeared shortly before the Mustang, were even remotely successful.

The success of the Mustang was not only due to an extensive and cleverly designed advertising campaign before and during the market launch, but also to an extensive list of individual extras and equipment packages. Every customer should be able to put together his Mustang model according to his own taste, whether it is a modestly equipped six-cylinder model, a small luxury coupe or a sports car with a powerful V8 engine.

First version
Officially, the early Mustang models, produced before September 1964, are also assigned to the 1965 model year. Among other things, they had a slightly smaller grille and the 4,3-liter V8 engine (260 cubic inches) from the Ford Falcon, instead of the 4,7-liter V8 engine (289 cubic inches) used from September onwards. To distinguish these early vehicles from those built from September onwards, they are often unofficially referred to as "model year 1964 1/2".

This Mustang 260 presented here has been completely restored, including the engine and manual transmission. Furthermore, the front brakes have been replaced with the much better Wilwood disc brakes. A Borgeson power steering has also been installed. The invoice for this can be viewed. The bodywork has been completely sanded and sprayed in the original colour. There is also a new hood that fits very nicely. There is a three-speed manual transmission that fantastically transfers the power of the 4.3 L engine to the rear wheels. It is a joy to drive this perfectly restored car. The sound of the 8-cylinder engine fits in perfectly.