In the early 1960s Lee Iacocca of Ford had a vision of a sporty youth-market car based on the Falcon. Developed in record time on a shoe-string budget, Ford introduced the 1965 Mustang at the World’s Fair on April 17, 1964, with instant acclaim. Ford planned for 100,000 first-year sales, but dealers already sold 22,000 on the first day. The Ford Mustang launched a whole new genre of automobiles, known as pony cars.

Ford marketed the original Mustang as a 1965 model, though Ford made several production changes to cars built after August 1964, by which time Ford had already sold 120,000. Hobbyists refer to early Mustangs as “1964½” models, while post-August cars are “late” 1965s. The Mustang launched with convertible and notchback body styles, with the fastback joining the lineup as a late ’65. A plethora of options enabled buyers to configure their Mustang as anything from an economical runabout to a weekend race car.  Total sales for the 1965 model (including “1964½” cars) was 681,000—nearly seven times Ford’s projections.