Autos

History

A collective history of the Ford Mustang from 1964-2014. With more than four decades of collective pavement beneath its wheels, the Ford Mustang is an automotive legend.

Generations of the Ford Mustang
First Generation 1964 1/2 - 1973
Second Generation 1974-1978

Third Generation 1979-1993
Fourth Generation 1994-2004
Fifth Generation 2005-2014

Generations of the Ford Mustang

Lee Iacocca and Don Frey pictured with an early Mustang.

Trace the history of the Ford Mustang from the First Generation through the Fifth.

First Generation 1964 1/2 - 1973

On March 9, 1964, the first Mustang rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan. A month later on April 17th, 1964, the Ford Mustang made its world debut.

Second Generation 1974-1978

For almost a decade, consumers had come to know the Ford Mustang as a power performance machine, with performance increases delivered on an almost yearly basis. Ford took a different approach with the second generation Mustang.

Third Generation 1979-1993

Sleek and redesigned, the 1979 was the first Mustang to be built on the new Fox platform, thus kicking off the third generation of the vehicle.

Fourth Generation 1994-2004

Not only did 1994 mark the 30th anniversary of the Ford Mustang; it also ushered in the fourth generation of the car, which was built on a new FOX-4 Platform.

Fifth Generation 2005-2014

In 2005, Ford introduced the all-new S197/D2C Mustang platform, thus launching the fifth generation of Mustang. As Ford put it, "The new platform is designed to make the Mustang faster, safer, more agile and better-looking than ever." In 2010, Ford gave the Fifth Generation Mustang a redesign. For the 2011 model year, Ford brought back the 5.0L engine and designed a more powerful V6 Mustang.

Mustangs