10-26-2010, 07:42 AM
“Ford Mustang” is synonymous with front-engine, rear-drive coupes. But the car originally had a mid-mounted four cylinder. The Ford Mustang I concept was designed and built in 1962 as part of Lee Iacocca‘s initiative to create a radical sports car to compete with the successful Chevrolet Corvair Monza coupe. The team, which included designer John Najjar, engineer Roy Lunn, and designer Gene Bordinat, completed the fully functional concept car in just 100 days. The Mustang had a steel tube chassis with an all-aluminum body riveted to it for maximum rigidity. It also had fully independent suspension, disc brakes, and a mid-mounted Ford Cardinal 1500cc 60-degree V4 engine good for about 109 horsepower. The car was feather light, wickedly fast, and drop-dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, Ford never put the car into production citing prohibitive production costs. But I can’t be too hard on Ford, considering the Mustang it did produce (and produces today) is kick ass. And, yeah, there’s the original GT40. And the GT. And the SHO. And the Focus RS. Still, who wouldn’t love a lightweight mid-engine sports car wearing the Blue Oval?
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