FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

The Ford Mustang at 50: Designing and Redesigning a Classic American Gadget

Ford designers were on-hand in Queens, talking about making the pony car with a past new again.

Yesterday was the 50th birthday of the Mustang, and to celebrate, Ford hosted a car show at the World's Fair grounds in Flushing Meadows, New York, the site of the car's debut way back in 1964. The event also marked another occasion: The new 2015 Mustang, which goes on sale later this year, will be the first Mustang to be sold overseas. Not being one to pass up the chance to ogle some vintage iron, I trekked out to Queens for the event, with one question in mind: How does a design evolve over five decades?

Advertisement

Cars are probably the oldest gadget we actively engage with. While your smartphone likely spends more time in your life, cars have always been the thing we care about most. (Who's ever named their refrigerator or TV?) And yet, in the hundred-odd years Americans have been driving, the basic layout hasn't changed much.

Still, within the framework of four wheels, and engine, and some seats, cars have step-by-step evolved into techno-futuristic wonders. So how do you take something as visceral as the interior of the above convertible (pretty sure it's a 65) and carry that forward?

Left to right: Doyle Letson, chief interior designer; Chris Svensson, design director for the Americas; Raj Nair, group VP for global product development.

I joined a quartet of Ford design execs who were judging the show to see what stuck out to the experts. One thing was clear: While the show's 50 or so cars counted an example from just about every body style in Mustang history, the originals were the star of the show.

"Mustang has gone through a few different periods in its life, but I think that if you ask anyone, their favorite is either the new one or the first three series, 1964-65, 66-67, and 68-69, maybe the 70s," said Moray Callum, Ford's VP for design, who led the design of the new Mustang.

And why not? A 50-year-old car certainly has its foibles, if you want to call them that—braking is terrible, creature comforts are limited, and its gas mileage doesn't compare to today. But certain details stand out. Doyle Letson, Ford's chief interior designer, pointed out these embossed ponies, which were an interior option in 66 and 67. It's a touch that'd be difficult to replicate today, without coming across as corny.

Advertisement

And that's part of the challenge of keeping a single line of cars—or any model line, for that matter—going for decades. The weight of nostalgia is heavy. While checking out this Shelby GT350, Letson said that "It's tough for the newer stuff to compete," referring to his judging duties. "I just love seeing that someone has held onto something and connected with it for so long."

So, instead of trying to recapture that completely, the focus has been on capturing key details. "When we introduced the new body style in 2006, we really harked back to the original, and people really respected that," Callum said. "But we didn't want this to be a retro design. We wanted it very much to be a modern car. Our job was really in taking the elements that people would recognize in Mustang, editing some of them out, and just keeping the right amount of elements so when people see a Mustang they recognize it at first sight."

One of those details that's always stuck out to me is the signature louvers of the fastback models. While louvers themselves have been dated for some time—and replicating those metal details would be a feat—they can still be a touchpoint for design.

"We wanted to bring back was the fastback look to the car, which was the 66, 67, 68 cars. We really wanted the look of the fastback car," Callum said, as an engine revved. "Good noise, isn't it?"

The early cars are definitely the blueprint, and little things stick out: The shape of the grill, the little overhangs over the headlights, the side scoop, the car's low waist. Combine it together, and it's obvious that, even if only half the car in the frame, you know what you're looking at. (The giant Ford and Shelby stickers on this old GT350 race car probably help.)

Advertisement

Compare the above to just this front-end shot of the new car. Yes, there's an enormous Mustang floating in the grill, which gives things away. It's also clearly a modern auto, with the complex headlights that are de rigueur these days and much wilder geometry at play, but its key notes are still being played. One little one I like: If you look at the left edge of the headlight, you've got that little overhang again.

Looking over the years, it's clear the car has had ups and downs. The 80s were a bad time for cars in general, and while I've got my own nostalgia for those years of Mustangs as I learned to drive in one, it's clear they're still a few years off from being viewed through the same rosy lenses as the originals, if they ever can be. (The taillights of the above model, which don't feature the three vertical bars that Mustangs tend to, are about as 80s-bland as you can get.)

Yeah, the 80s were a rough time.

Others, like those built in the 70s, have aged better, but still have their own design cues that place them firmly in their decade.

I've always felt these 70s models feel a bit bloated, but even then, the general shape remains the same. And it's that shape and that essence that keeps the car going.

And what, other than a car, has the same model, the same brand, continue to evolve for decades? While they're not there yet, smartphones are an interesting analog, as they, like cars, have certain design constraints—even if that largely means being a hand-sized slab. Can Apple keep developing iPhones for another three decades? And even if it keeps the name alive, will it still be recognizable as such? It's almost as much a philosophical question as a design one.

Advertisement

Cars naturally work on a different time scale, and they've already had a long head start over the other tech we're working with today. But there's another point, too: While new cars are objectively superior to old one, the old ones are still plenty useable. Sure, classic video gaming is hugely popular, but will vintage smartphones ever be something people care about? It's hard to tell.

The judges particularly liked this Mach 1 (which I believe is a 71, but happy to be corrected), which has a larger presence than its predecessors. If the early Mustangs are lithe, this car is the big bruiser your uncle rumbles around in—and still can today.

In the end, the judges honed in on this 1967 Shelby GT500, which was by far the most rare, most valuable car in attendance. Even so, it was clear the car gets driven, which the judges liked.

And again, the little details stand out. For a car worth more than a house, the headlights probably couldn't light up a dim garage. But that badge can't be copied.

In the end, the car won the show. "I think people thought it there was a real technical process to the judging, but the one I'd like to steal is the one I picked," Callum said. "Really, the one that won is really important. It's a Shelby, and we're really proud of our relationship with Shelby throughout our history of the Mustang, and it was a 67, which is my favorite body style. And it's a good honest car, you can see the owner drivers and that it's not a trailer queen. That's what we like, we like people to drive the cars."

Advertisement
Moray Callum.

Callum wasn't kidding. He and Chris Svensson, Ford's design director for the Americas, had driven to the show from Detroit in their own vintage models. I asked Svensson what it was like taking a three-day road trip in a recently-restored, nearly 50-year-old car, and he laughed, saying the trip had more rain and snow than he would have liked. "Yeah, the weather stripping leaked a bit," he said.

And that's a key point: There's a limit to nostalgia, as cars today are faster, safer, more comfortable, better built, and more efficient than they've ever been, across the board. But for a car like a Mustang—or a Camaro, if that's more your speed—that tradition is another major factor in the design process. "These are the core cars that we want to influence us, but we don't want to mimic them," Callum said, referring to the older models.

I asked him if he ever got nervous designing the new car. "Well yeah, there's a lot of pressure when you design a car like this. You don't want to be the guy who screws it up," he said. "I think overall I like what we've done to the proportions to the car. It's lower, it's wider, the stance of the car is much better. "

The show attendees, who were all heavily decked out in Mustang and car club gear, all seemed stoked on the new car, and it's clear that, even for the most hardcore old timers, the new car's design at least pays the proper amount of respect to the good ol' years. For Ford, that's crucial—while trucks and sedans will always make bigger profits, they don't put posters of econo-boxes on their walls.

"This vehicle is the heart and soul of this company," Ford's Raj Nair said during a speech before the crowd. "There's a little bit of Mustang in everything we do."