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The car was given the name “Mus-
tang,” but probably should have been
called “Serendipity” for the many for-
tunate coincidences that later fell into
place. Iacocca liked the concept illus-
tration but it was really just that – a
drawing. When Lunn and his team
tried to fit the intended powerplant –
an in-line four-cylinder motor from an
English Ford – under the mid-engine
roadster’s deck line, it was too tall.
Before McNamara had left Ford to
serve in the Kennedy administration,
he had commissioned a V-4 engine and
transaxle to be used in a new and even
cheaper Falcon replacement, a stodgy
front-wheel-drive compact to be
named the Cardinal. Iacocca cancelled
that project, correctly anticipating a
more sporty, stylish swing to the mar-
ket. Not only did the small orphaned
V-4 fit under the Mustang Concept’s
deck cover, but the transaxle was just
what was needed for the aft engine
layout. (The Cardinal and the V-4 later
found success when the Ford Taunus
was launched in Germany.)
Ford had a group of designers and
engineers just waiting for something
exciting to happen. One of them was
another talented expat, this time a
German named Klaus Arning, who
was head of Advanced Suspension De-
sign and who had patented a radical
independent rear suspension design
way back in 1958. He assigned this
special design to Ford, as it incorpo-
rated anti-squat geometry and a slight
four-wheel steering capability. The
unique design found its first home in
the Mustang I, and it fit and worked
perfectly in the mid-engine tube-
framed car.
Instead of a conventional front ra-
diator, for reasons of front end design,
convenience in packaging and to save
time, Mustang I used side-mounted
radiators with air scoops behind the
doors. These, of course, have become
the signature side sculpture on nearly
every production Ford Mustang since.
The project team made the Watkins
Glen reveal deadline, mostly by sleep-
ing in the shop for the last six weeks.
This forced the blue-collar guys and
the white-collar guys to talk to each
other, which was pretty much unheard
of at the time, and probably insured
the project’s success.
The team held their collective
breaths as Dan Gurney took the Mus-
tang I Concept up to 120 mph around
the Glen, on what was supposed to
have been a slow cruise. It created a
sensation and validated the need for a
fresh, sporty Ford product lineup.
During the thrash to complete the
car, a young engineer named Chuck
Carrig was toying with the idea of
using a computer to do the various it-
erations of suspension geometry. Sus-
pension layouts in the 60s were done
full-size by taping velum drawing
paper to large tables and carefully
plotting all the curves in pen and ink.
Each design took days.
Arning liked Carrig’s idea for his
unique IRS, and authorized the use of
the only computer at Ford World
Headquarters at the time, an IBM 704
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 64
Ford’s computer room and all of the people
it took to support their one IBM 704 data
processing system.
Klaus Arning stands next to one of the
company cars he used to get back and forth
to work.
Dan Gurney, driving the new Mustang at
Watkins Glen during the 1962 USGP.