I have heard the name came from the horse that the indians used to ride a beautiful painted or spoted smaller yet faster horse in the west. I have also heard that they were named after the P-51 Mustang fighter plane.
Does any one that is still alive know the answer to this question?
it was named after the Mustang P-51 fighter plane from the WWII era.
Sorry dude, while that is a waaaay sexier story, the real story is much more mundane than that. Mustang/cougar/falcon and torino were all considered for the car we now call Mustang,
Mr. Phil (Phillip) Clark came up with the idea for the Mustang two seater car while he was in Nashville, Tennessee on his way to California for the Art School of Design. He saw the running horses (wild Mustangs) and wanted to have that as his icon on the car he would create.
Actually guys, it was originally named after both. Here's why.
The Ford team in charge of naming the Mustang went through many possibilities, including Cougar, Torino, and Venice. Mustang was finally decided upon; #1- because WWII had ended no too long ago, and the P-51 Mustang Fighter airplane played an incredibly important role in the war; and #2- The Mustang (horse) represented an untameable spirit which they thought would perfectly represent the car and its intended buyers. This is also why the galloping horse logo is running the opposite way that trained racehorses run around a track - that it will always be a free spirit, and follow its own will.
I agree with the answer provided by 66sprint200. I also seem to remember the Mustang was code named T-5 before the official Mustang name was released.
Ditto with the running horse emblem explanation. I think a Ford exec (perhaps Iaccoca) saw the horse and made a comment that it seemed to be running in the wrong direction for a race horse. The reply given to the exec was that Mustangs are wild and can run in any direction they please....classic!
I'm pretty sure the Cougar name was a very close second. One of my books even has a prototype car with a cougar emblem in the grille rather than the galloping horse.
Actually guys, it was originally named after both. Here's why.
The Ford team in charge of naming the Mustang went through many possibilities, including Cougar, Torino, and Venice. Mustang was finally decided upon; #1- because WWII had ended no too long ago, and the P-51 Mustang Fighter airplane played an incredibly important role in the war; and #2- The Mustang (horse) represented an untameable spirit which they thought would perfectly represent the car and its intended buyers. This is also why the galloping horse logo is running the opposite way that trained racehorses run around a track - that it will always be a free spirit, and follow its own will.
you hit the nail on the head, almost word for word.
i just read that somewhere.
Some say the horse some say the airplane.The first prototype mustang was a ugly little 2 seater rear end car.But look at it this way the mustang started the pony car so the f body and some of the mopars we have to thank the mustang for.
I agree with the answer provided by 66sprint200. I also seem to remember the Mustang was code named T-5 before the official Mustang name was released.
There were several prototype Mustangs built. T-5 was the prototype they used as the base for the production Mustang.
T-5 was also what all classic Mustangs were called in Germany. There was already a motorcycle and a truck line called Mustang in Germany and Ford didn't want to pay to use the name on the car. So, the all got the 65 style gas cap, but the put a black depression in it where it said Mustang. They did the same with the steering wheel horn button. Then up on the fender they got rid of the Mustang script, and in its place was a little silver bar with a black insert that said T-5 in silver.
And I had read that about both the plane and the horse somewhere then I remembered it was in a book I had. Someone copied the text word for word on wiki answers.
I also read a story somewhere years ago that Lee Iacocca was at a TCU football game with a couple of other Ford execs and saw the emblem on their helmets. I tend to lean towards the P-51 story myself.
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1967 Mustang Fastback
Acapulco Blue
289 HP bored .30 over
PA C4 transmission
A work in progress...
I am not sure I believe the P-51 link to the name. The P-51 was powered by V-12 Rolls-Rocye Merlin engines. Although Ford of England produced Merlins for the war effort, in the US it was Packard that built them since England realized they couldn't win the war by themselves. When Henry Ford found out that the guvmint planned to have Ford build Merlins he flew into a rage and absolutely refused to allow it to happen since he generally hated the English and particularly Churchill. When told that FDR had signed him up for the job Henry said 'That was FDRs problem'. Edsel Ford had to tell FDR that Packard would be a better choice. Ford in the USA never built any Merlins. Henry had little control over Churchill forcing Ford of England to build the engines which were designed solely to fight the Germans and credited with allowing the British Spitfires to win the Battle of Britain. The Merlin is a very highly respected engine in the UK for that very reason.
Ref: The Flying Lady, bimonthly periodical of the R-R Owners Club, page 8951, July/August 2008
Whether by coincidence, or by design,a choice was made by the Ford Motor Company in 1964 to give their new and exciting model the same name as that of yet another WW II's mechanical heroes.That Mustang was, in its way,also clean,streamlined,well-balanced,and powerful machine,and its early versions served as suitable platforms for added growth as more and more powerful engines became available
From the book, Mustang Does It
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"Ford Mustang.....The Hoofbeat Of America and...The Heartbreak of Today's Chevrolet"
P-51; that's why you see so many photos of the two together. By the way, TCU does NOT have anything to do with Mustangs. TCU are the horned frogs. Perhaps you meant SMU (Southern Methodist University). This is private school also located in Dallas, however, they are the Mustangs with a running horse on their helmet.
The name MUSTANG Where it come from 
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