Book Review by Maggie Woods | The Complete Book of Mustang

The Complete Book of Mustang

SOME CARS REALLY GET UNDER YOUR SKIN. And the Mustang is one of those vehicles — it is said to be the most iconic of American cars — that has continued to attract an enthusiastic following throughout all its incarnations.

Now you can learn all about this fabulous car in a lavishly-illustrated book, The Complete Book of Mustang: Every Model Since 1964 1/2 by Mike Mueller, which takes you through the Mustang's forty-plus years of continuous production with a rich and varied history unmatched in the automotive world.

This exhaustive review of American high performance, from the first six-cylindered 'Stang of 1964 1/2 through to today's fire-breathing, world-beating Mustang, offers an in-depth look at the prototypes and experimental models — the anniversary and pace cars and the speciality packages for street and competition driving that have made the Mustang a living automotive legend. Starting with the pony car prototypes and covering everything, including the Shelby and SVT legends, this book really is a must-have for any Mustang fan!

On Friday, 17 April 1964, Dearborn officials introduced America to a fun machine that brought buyers galloping to their friendly neighbourhood Ford dealerships. They risked being trampled in the stampede and the one millionth Mustang rolled off the line in February 1966. The Ford Motor Company celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2003 and the year after that the Mustang reached its tenth birthday.

With extensive details, specs and photographic coverage, this book is the ultimate resource on America's favourite car. Documented in interesting detail is the unveiling of the 2005 Mustang as the legend rolls on; along with a fine classic 1978 King Cobra; 1979 Indy Pace Car — Mustangs have paced the Indianapolis 500 three times: 1964, 1979 and 1994. Shelby built a 427-powered GT500 prototype in 1967 that was nicknamed 'Super Snake' that really looked the business. Mustangs have always been big, bad and beautiful — right up to the stunning 2007 Shelby GT500. Ford Motor Company Vice President (Design),
J Mays, explains: "We weren't just redesigning a car; we were adding another chapter to an epic."

If you were in the market for a three-thousand-dollar car in the 1970s, you wouldn't have gone far wrong to buy a Mustang. It would have been a good investment not only in terms of money but it was also big on enjoyment.

The Complete Book of Mustang is packed with well-chosen colour photographs and many nostalgic black-and-white period images. Divided into chapters highlighting the changes over the years, the specials and the production figures, you will find many facts from the pages of Mustang history. We were particularly struck by a photo-graph of one of the 50 Special Olympic Spirit Convertibles for 1972 to honour that year's Olympic Games. With beautiful lines, the white
with blue detail body is very striking and the interior is white and blue with red piping following the red, white and blue patriotism theme.

Finally, there is a look at the 2007 cars and a major Mustang facelift for 2009 is predicted.

• The complete Book of Mustang: Every Model Since 1964 1/2 by Mike Mueller is out now in hardback and is available from all good bookshops at an RRP of £35. (ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-2838-5).

Mike Mueller is an acclaimed motoring writer and photographer who has worked for magazines including Autoweek, Life, Car Craft and Auto-mobile quarterly. He is the author of several books, including Motor-books' American Horsepower: 100 Years of Great Car Engines, Corvette, Chevrolet Pickups, Motor City Muscle and Mustang 1964 1/2.

home • top of page • all book reviews