Still the One: First-Generation Mustang Tops Employee Survey

It’s been more than 60 years since the Ford Mustang debuted, and Ford team members still have a soft spot for that first generation of the iconic Pony car, according to a recent @FordOnline survey. That first Mustang, produced from 1964-1973, was the overwhelming favorite in the poll, followed by a tie between the third (1979-1993) and sixth generations (2015-2023). Mustang is currently in its seventh generation, which launched in 2024.   

Why the first generation is favored   

Ford Heritage and Brand Manager Ted Ryan, who counts himself among the first-generation fans, said the results were similar to the car’s sales throughout the decades.   

“I’m not at all surprised, because the first generation created a groundswell,” he said, noting the wide margin between the first generation and the next closest in the poll. “It created a movement. It created Mustang Mania – and it wasn’t much different than Beatlemania.” 

Ryan said Ford was in a perfect position during the youth movement of the mid-1960s to capture an emerging segment of consumers who were looking for something different, from their music and fashion to their personal transportation. 

“We knew well and good that the baby boomer generation was coming,” he said. “The new and emerging market of young people … they wanted their own music and they got The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and they wanted their own fashion and they got bell-bottoms and long hair, and they wanted their own car and they chose the Mustang. And it created a social movement.” 

Ford sold over one million Mustangs in the car’s first two years after one of the most frenzied car launches of all time, Ryan said, creating a memorable car that has become an industry icon. 

Fox Body flexes 

While the first Mustang came at a time of social change, Mustang II arrived in the 1970s amidst an oil crisis and changing regulations, which sapped some of the fun out of the downsized sports car. But Ford and Mustang persevered, and the third generation, born in the late 1970s and commonly known as the Fox Body era because of the name of its longtime Fox platform, helped bring muscle back to Mustang. Today, they are popular collector cars and even inspired a new appearance package available on the 2026 model called Mustang FX.  

Mustang’s fourth generation, which launched in the mid-1990s, was not as popular in the survey, but the car saw a rebound for the fifth, sixth, and seventh (current) generations, which Ryan attributed to a return to Mustang’s roots in muscle car appearance. 

Unmistakably Mustang 

Some key design elements, such as Mustang’s unmistakable long hood, short rear deck, and three-bar taillights, have carried over to today’s model. But, Ryan said, the spirit and personality of the car are what really translate from the 1960s to today, as well as the ability to personalize yours in a million different ways, both aesthetically and mechanically.  

“The core design hasn’t changed that much, and the DNA is pretty much the same as it was 60-plus years ago,” Ryan said. “It’s still a canvas for you to express your personality,” he said. 

Throughout all of its changes, Mustang has accomplished the incredible feat of being continuously produced since 1964. Ryan is currently living on both ends of that spectrum – his father recently purchased a Canary Yellow 1965 Mustang similar to the one he drove during Ryan’s childhood, and Ryan’s 23-year-old son is driving a current Mustang model. 

“Its holding power and longevity are extremely rare in the automotive industry, and it can be attributed to the youthful optimism that the brand brings,” Ryan said.