The First Generation Ford Mustang – From Sketch to Production

In early 1961 a group of Ford Motor Company engineers, designers, product planners, marketers and executives began a series of off-site meetings at the Fairlane Inn in Dearborn, Mich.

The goal was to formulate a response to the rapidly changing demographics of the American automotive market. The first wave of the post-war baby boom was coming of age and these younger drivers wanted something different from what their parents wanted.

The group which became known as the “Fairlane Committee” formulated a business plan for a new sporty, stylish and affordable compact car derived from the recently launched Falcon. By the fall of 1961, designers from every Ford studio began sketching up their ideas for a car to fit this template and then rendering them in clay and fiberglass.

However, until September 1962, none of the proposals were really catching on. That’s when a new sketch from Gale Halderman finally became the “IT” design.  Within 2 weeks, a clay model was ready and the car was on its way to production in April 1964.