50th of anniversary of the Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang is an American automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was originally based on the platform of the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car.^[1] The original Ford Mustang I four-seater concept car had evolved into the 1963 Mustang II two-seater prototype, which Ford used to pretest how the public would take interest in the first production Mustang which was released as the 1964 1/2, with a slight variation on the frontend and a top that was 2.7 inches shorter than the 1963 Mustang II.^[2] Introduced early on April 17, 1964,^[3] and thus dubbed as a "1964½" model by Mustang fans, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A.^[4] The Mustang has undergone several transformations to its current sixth generation.

The Mustang created the "pony car" class of American automobiles—sports-car like coupes with long hoods and short rear decks^[5]—and gave rise to competitors such as the Chevrolet Camaro,^[6] Pontiac Firebird, AMC Javelin,^[7]Chrysler's revamped Plymouth Barracuda and the first generation Dodge Challenger.^[8] The Mustang is also credited for inspiring the designs of coupés such as the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri, which were imported to the United States.