"American as All Hell"

One of the hottest cars in the U.S. these days is neither a Japanese import nor one of Detroit's new front-wheel drives. It is the Ford Mustang of the early breed: the slim, economical and sporty little models built between 1964 and 1968. Suddenly they are more sought after than any other classic. An early model in only fair shape sells for $6,000 to $8,000. Low-mileage convertibles in top condition have fetched as much as $18,000. In California, old Mustangs rank near the top on police lists of most-stolen cars.

Automen have no firm explanation for the renewed popularity of the cars, which has taken off at a gallop over the past 16 months. But one reason may be nostalgia. When the first Mustang was unveiled in April 1964 at the New York World's Fair, a Ford flack said that its name was chosen because it sounded "American as all hell." Lyndon Johnson had just pushed through tax cuts, the dark days of Viet Nam were still far over the horizon, and the post-World War II baby boom made people under 25 almost as numerous as their elders. Press pundits began calling them "the Mustang generation."

The car's innards were those of a utilitarian Ford Falcon, but its shell was sleek and jaunty enough to make it the only auto ever to win a design award from Tiffany & Co. Not even Lee lacocca, the Mustang's chief progenitor and now chairman of Chrysler Corp., expected it to be the most popular new car of the decade. The first weekend the Mustang went on sale, 4 million people visited Ford showrooms. Over the next two years, the company built 1.28 million Mustangs. Young people snapped them up because they looked racy, yet cost as little as $2,368. Older folks bought them as second cars that had much more pizazz than the Volkswagen Beetle. Whooped a rejuvenated Texas bachelor of 44 in a letter to Ford: "Man, this pony is the greatest. A widow with 7,000 acres came 60 miles so I could take her riding in it. I thought the jig was up for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Most prized are the 1964 to 1966 models, says Tex Smith, publisher of Car Exchange magazine. So durable were these "square Mustangs" that 300,000 to 400,000 of them, or about a third of the total built, may still be on the road. Says Automotive Writer Wallace A. Wyss: "Ford made the car better than it planned. Detroit expects the average auto buyer to trade in a car after three years, but there are plenty of people still driving their '65 Mustangs with 200,000 miles on the clock, almost unaware that it's 1980." Many owners trade Mustang parts and stories at regional swap meets.

A number of entrepreneurs specialize in returning old models to pristine condition. J. Orion Brunk, founder of Beverly Hills Mustang, Ltd., has an eight-week waiting list of buyers. A network of sleuths buy old Mustangs and parts for Brunk, and he has an agreement with Racing Car Designer Carroll Shelby to turn old 1966 models into souped-up Shelby Mustangs. Price of the new Shelbys: $40,000. Detroit cannot keep its hands off a winner, though, and the classic Mustang died after 1968--of obesity. Ford gradually fattened the car, boosting its size, adding 584 Ibs. to its weight by 1971. Sales slowed, prompting lacocca to confess, "The original Mustang buyer is still there, still wanting a good little car. We walked away from the market."

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