Mustang News
The People that Created the Ford Mustang
By All Ford Mustangs News Desk
Mar 3, 2008, 2008-03-03

When thinking about Ford Mustang history, it is easy to concentrate on the great cars that have been built over the last forty years, but Mustang history is about more than just cars. There are many people that have worked behind the scenes to make the Mustang one of the most beloved cars in the automotive industry.

No list of people involved in the history of the Mustang would be complete without the name Lee Iococca. It was Iococca's vision of a compact car that was fun to drive that would spur Ford to create the Mustang. When the car was introduced in 1964, it was so successful that Iococca was named the Ford Division's president on his fortieth birthday.

If it took Iococca's vision to spur the creation of the Mustang, it took Joe Oros to give the vision shape. Oros made the very first clay model of the car that would become the 1964 ˝ Mustang. If not for the beauty of Oros' model, there may never have been a Mustang at all. The Ford execs were so taken with Oros' clay model that they green lighted the new car. Ford execs weren't the only ones impressed by Oros. In 1965, he received an Industrial Design Institute award.

As the muscle car era evolved, the Mustang morphed into a streamlined, curvy and aggressive monster. The man responsible for the radical second generation redesign was Larry Shinoda. Shinoda was responsible for applying the Boss 429 and the Boss 302 names to the Mustang.

It wasn't all men that made their mark on Mustang History. Janine Bay was the first woman to lead a sports car division for a car maker. She was actively involved in producing the 1999 Mustang. She also served on the board of the Mustang Club of America.

Not everyone is content to leave their Mustang as they are when they come from the factory. That's where men like Steve Saleen come in. As a former car racer, Saleen felt like the Mustangs were underpowered with their original factory engines. His company introduced their first modified Mustang in 1984. It finished first in its class at the 24 hour Mosport race.

Steven Saleen wasn't the first person to juice up the Mustang. Bob Tasca, Sr. came along well before Saleen's time. Tasca became frustrated when customers would leave his car dealership because the Mustang was under powered. To fill what he saw as a gap in Ford's Mustang line-up, Tasca made his own engine using parts that he bought from the Ford catalog. The newly designed Cobra Jet 428 smoked the competition on the drag racing strip. This caused demand for the 428 to soar. Tasca was so confident in his improved Mustang that he once told Henry Ford II that he made terrible cars. He eventually became a quality consultant at Ford and made a big difference in the performance of the Mustang.

It's fun to look back at the 1964˝ Mustang and think about how far the car has come since then, but don't forget the people who were responsible for the evolution of the Mustang.