The Enigma of an American Icon - DNA of The Ford Mustang

Jerome Malinowski, an award-winning design team member for the Ford Mustang, spoke to a lucky audience at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. Autobytel was on hand to capture the event on video. The Mustang, of course, is one of the most influential and immediately recognizable videos in American history, and Jerome said he’d be leading his audience through snapshots in time that would help clarify the Mustang’s enigma. The Ford Mustang was conceived in 1961 in Dearborn, Michigan, and Detroit was an exciting place, at the time. The auto industry and other industries, such as steel and iron, were always busy. Motown music was immensely popular. And amidst all this, the original Mustang design team toiled away 13 hours a day, six days a week. Jerome described the corporate culture of Ford at the time, which was fairly stressful. When the team was trying to come up with Mustang sales projections, they had to consider other current Ford vehicles, some of which were not selling well at all despite being very affordable cars. There was a lot of turnover in the upper ranks at Ford, and a lot of pressure. Over the decades, though, the Mustang grew to exceed expectations, even as the city of Detroit went into a steep economic decline. Be sure to check out Autobytel’s two video interviews with Jerome Malinowski, for more inside details about the history of the Ford Mustang:

• Part 1
• Part 2