Mustang had just left the corral when work on the follow-up ’67 model See more pictures of the 1967 and 1968 Ford Mustang. When it came time for its first significant revamp, the original pony car was no longer the only pony car. It was clear the 1967 Ford Mustang would have to fight for sales. Designers who would shape the ’67 model were in a unique position, however. In the 1960s, a new car took some three years to go from drawing board to showroom. Typically, designers and engineers were working without knowing how the public liked the car they had just finished. But when work on what would become the 1967 Ford Mustang began in summer 1964, the first edition was already a huge hit. That posed the knotty problem of what to do for an encore. While Ford expected some changes would be needed after ’66, it wasn’t clear what those ought to be. Moreover, as program head Ross Humphries later told author Gary Witzenburg: “At the time the ’67 was planned, we really didn’t have any idea that the original was such a winner. Things did look awfully rosy, but we didn’t know how long it was going to last.” Fad or not, Mustang’s instant high success got Ford cracking on a slightly larger, more luxurious pony car by late 1964. It would emerge for ’67 as the Mercury Cougar.Meantime, Ford Division was left to ponder how archrival Chevrolet might respond — if at all. For… [Read full story]
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