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PHOTOS: Ford Mustang In Racing History
A retrospective of the Ford Mustang In Racing History...
Media Release  |  Posted July 02, 2010   Charlotte, NC
The 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Ford Mustang GT. (Photo: SPEED.com)
The iconic status of the Ford Mustang can be attributed to several major factors, including its lasting hallmarks of great looks and performance combined with affordability – as well as it’s starring roles on the big screen. But, for enthusiasts who have nurtured this image, the legend of Mustang began on the racetrack and grew quickly over four decades of dominating performances.

PHOTOS: Ford Mustang In Racing History

The new 440-horsepower Mustang GT-R concept is a bold expression of this glorious racing success, with ties to some of Ford’s most famous racing moments, and fittingly arrives as tens of thousands of Mustang fans prepare to gather (at a racetrack of course) to honor the legend’s 40th anniversary.

Humble Beginnings

In the early sixties, Ford and the other American automakers were "officially" out of racing, chafing under the self-imposed Automobile Manufacturers Association ban that had begun in 1957. Seeking to boost its image, Ford would ultimately create a formidable racing program in the 1960s that is still thriving today.

That original program included the A.C. Cobra, the GT-40, the 427 and Boss 429 NASCAR and drag racing engines, the double overhead cam Ford Indy engine, the Ford-Cosworth DFV Formula One engine and production cars like the Mustang.

The name Mustang was suggested by executive stylist John Najjar because he was an aficionado of the P-51 Mustang fighter plane of World War II.

The wild-horse theme was adopted almost immediately. The familiar running-horse emblem was plainly visible at Watkins Glen, N.Y., in the fall of 1962. The crowds, on hand for the U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race, were treated to an exhibition of the Mustang I two-seat prototype driven by Dan Gurney.
The 1965 Indy 500 pace car. (Photo: SPEED.com)

A little more than a month after its April 17 introduction, Mustang was on the racetrack as a pace car leading the 1964 Indianapolis 500. Before the year was out, Mustang was a winner in competition, finishing first and second in class in the 1964 Tour de France international rally – an auspicious beginning.

One Quarter Mile at a Time

The first American assault came in drag racing, initially by individuals and dealer-sponsored teams. Racers squeezed 427 high-riser V-8s into their Mustangs, and the "horses" were off and racing.

By 1965, Ford was involved with cars competing in the National Hot Rod Association’s Factory Experimental, or A/FX class, as the 427-cubic-inch single overhead cam V-8 made a potent powerplant in Holman & Moody’s A/FX Mustangs.

Ten of these Mustangs were built, and five of them qualified in the Factory Stock Eliminator field at the ’65 NHRA Winternationals. Bill Lawton drove his Tasca Ford Mustang A/FX to victory in the car’s very first race.


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