Cultural Artifact-The 1964 Ford Mustang
Definition
The 1964 Ford Mustang was a sports car, also known as a pony car. Lee Iacocca, the general manager of Ford at the time, and his team of specialists developed the Mustang to be sporty enough to attract the youth market, with an affordable price in the twenty five hundred dollar range (“Big Cars, Small Cars”).
“The Mustang was the catalyst for the so-called pony-car craze started by the Pontiac GTO” (“Big Cars, Small Cars”). In the years leading up to the 1960’s, people generally purchased big cars. But, by the 1960’s the people wanted smaller cars with performance, and then in 1964 came their answer, the Ford Mustang.
The Mustang was different than most other sporty cars, because of its long hood and short deck. The Mustang also had numerous options. “Ford Executives claimed that no two Mustangs were exactly the same” (“Big Cars, Small Cars”).
“The Mustang spoke to the country’s basic motoring urge, and to the new style of this desire: it was ‘destined to be a sort of Model A of sports cars,’ available to the masses” (Hill).
The photo in the top left hand corner was made available by BRUJAMAVI.
Analyzation
The 1964 Ford Mustang’s purpose was to have the capability of accommodating numerous options, and to be affordable at the same time.
The producer of the 1964 Ford Mustang is blatantly obvious, the Ford Motor Company.
Everybody with a driver’s license and the desire for, it used it. The Mustang had a great appeal to everyone. “The Mustang was popular because it pulled together the most desirable aspects from several different concurrent trends in the car market: the compact economy car, the performance-oriented muscle and pony cars, and the trendy little sports cars” (“Big Cars, Small Cars”). Its use was identified by the masses.
The 1964 Ford Mustang was priced in the twenty five hundred dollar range (“Big Cars, Small Cars”). The performance of the Mustang could be beat, but not the price, which made it vastly popular.
The Mustang was marketed to the youth with its numerous options and sporty look (“Big Cars, Small Cars”).
The Mustang does resemble other objects such as other sports/compact cars, but the Mustang has its own appeal. Next, it did not replace or be replaced by another object. Other sports cars, pony cars enjoyed some success, but the Mustang remained the favorite of the people (“Big Cars, Small Cars”).
The 1964 Ford Mustang says a lot about the American values that existed in the year 1964. The Mustang was the pony car of the people and it is shown through its numerous options, its affordability, and finally its immense popularity. “Although many automobiles are iconic from perspective or another, the Ford Mustang stands out with the context of automobile discourse for its animation and ‘humanity’ and the ‘hybridity of its car and driver’; moreover, it fulfills these projected roles in the active society and economy of car culture”(Hill).
The photo in the top right hand corner was made available by Brain Toad Photography.
Suggestions for Further Reading
"Big Cars, Small Cars." American Decades. Ed. Vincent Tompkins. Vol. 7: 1960-1969. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 10 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. CIC Penn State University. 19 Feb. 2009
<http://find.galegroup.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3468302264&source=gale&userGroupName=psucic&version=1.0>.
Hall, Dennis, Hall, Susan, eds. American Icons. Volume 1. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006. 3 vols.
Kalliney, Peter. "Ford Motor Company." St. James Encyclopedia of PopularCulture. Eds. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 2. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 135-138. 5 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. CIC Penn State University. 19 Feb. 2009
<http://find.galegroup.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3409000893&source=gale&userGroupName=psucic&version=1.0>.
