Special Feature

Mustang — A Born Winner

Mike Matune
The Mustang was introduced to an anxious public in Flushing, NY at the 1964 WorldÕs Fair. Photo: Ford Motor Company
The Mustang was introduced to an anxious public in Flushing, NY at the 1964 WorldÕs Fair. Photo: Ford Motor Company

Our story begins with the Mustang’s introduction on April 17, 1964, at the New York World’s Fair. It turned out to be the right car at the right time, speaking directly to a burgeoning Baby Boomer generation. Almost immediately a competition program was planned, Ford announcing that teams would be entered in Canada’s FIA-sanctioned Shell 4000 Rally and the USRRC race at Riverside. However, they may have gotten the cart a little in front of the horse here (no pun intended), as no racing body had yet approved the Mustang for competition and, in turn, a Mustang did not appear at either event.

ÒStormin NormanÓ Beechey campaigned his Mustang throughout Australia in 1965 including in May at Lakeside Raceway. His Mustang wears the livery of Neptune racing, an Australian Oil Retailer. Photo: Brier Thomas
ÒStormin NormanÓ Beechey campaigned his Mustang throughout Australia in 1965 including in May at Lakeside Raceway. His Mustang wears the livery of Neptune racing, an Australian Oil Retailer. Photo: Brier Thomas

So where did the Mustang’s long and storied competition legacy begin? Such later efforts as Shelby American’s with the GT350 and the early Trans-Am saga are well known, but the question remains: where did it all begin, and who were the early pioneers of that competition legacy?

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