The Mustang’s arrival was an era defining event; so much so that over half a century later, we are still talking about those early models on a regular basis. Even non-car people need hardly an introduction to the car. So, how about taking a look at them, as they arrived in dealers back when new?
The photos in this collection more or less cover the wide range of folks who lusted after these from early on; they’re a quite varied lot, and speaks to the way the model appealed to many since its dawn. Most photos, regrettably, are hard to track down location wise, though details have been added when available.
We’ll start with the older lady at Jenkins Motor Co. above, presumably getting the keys to her hardtop.
Another key exchange, now for a convertible. In the showroom, some ’65 Falcons seem to be visible.
A giveaway of some sort, with a Mustang convertible and a live mustang, displayed at Johnny Parsons Ford in Milford, OH.
New owners, ready to drive away in a ’66 convertible.
Mustangs displayed in a promo shot at Mendenhall Ford, in St. Louis, MO.
In the showroom, with a ’65 Fairlane wagon in the back.
We showed this image recently, but these early Mustangs at a lot deserve a place in this gallery.
Another Mustang getting a good deal of attention in this promo shot at Mosehart & Keller Ford, in Houston, TX.
It’s Season’s Greetings for 1966 at Les Arkenberg Ford in Gardena, CA.
Mustangs on display at Hemphill McCombs Ford, San Antonio, TX.
In #3 I think the horse is the giveaway.
Probably buy a mustang and get a free horse.
I had to look that one up. They were giving away the horse, though it’s not clear whether purchase of a Ford was required.
What I find interesting is that the horse is a stallion, according to the ad below. On the right-hand side of the ad, it says
Free Registered Live Mustang Stallion
Fully Equipped
Bridle, Saddle, Blanket
Seems like a Stallion (i.e., not a gelding) would be quite a handful for most people. Certainly not the “let’s get our kid a pony” type of horse.
Maybe it’s a leftover from the Edsel pony giveaway — all grown up
Ugh. As Eric says, the conditions of the horse giveaway are entirely unclear, so I just hope that the raffle to win a horse was somehow open to only those who actually wanted a horse (and hence would try to win it…somehow).
I have to say though that back then, as I recall from being around in those days, there was often a sort of cavalier attitude affixed to the welfare of live animals used in a promotional manner. I recall that it was common to give away live goldfish, turtles, chicks, bunnies, and even sometimes cats and dogs in all sorts of grocery store giveaways. Many of those animals ended up released into nature or (at least in the case of goldfish) literally thrown away once they proved inconvenient to care for. It got bad enough that many states eventually outlawed the practice of giving away live animals for promotional purposes.
All that said, I have a hard time believing that a valuable horse would even be given away to an unwitting/unwilling customer…and it’s really bizarre that the newspaper ad didn’t specify any details at all about the terms of the contest. Nevertheless it still seems kind of yucky, and I’m glad that we’ve generally moved away from that kind of thing.
On a separate note, looking at the advertisement, I really wonder how much of a discount you’d get for putting on the hubcaps and floor mats yourself. Am I missing some kind of technical detail about how difficult it was to put floor mats in a 65 Mustang?
I’m working on an article highlighting some amusing 1960s ads from a Virginia Ford dealer, among them were a few “Win a Cow” contests. The lucky winner could choose to take the cow “on the hoof” or butchered. Those kinds of contests (usually featuring pigs, cows or horses) were somewhat common back then, but almost unfathomable now.
Almost. A few weeks ago, thought I found the exception – a body shop advertising “win a cow” (see picture below). But it turns out, the “cow” is really a $500 gift card to a local butcher shop. Actually that would be kind of nice, come to think of it…
My Uncle Bob actually won a pony in a contest of some kind. They lived in a small county seat town, and there was a county fairgrounds nearby where they boarded “Sparky”. I remember getting taken to ride Sparky a time or two. And I remember being warned by my uncle “Careful, he bites”. My aunt later said that she was never happier than the day they got rid of that @#&*! Sparky.
A lot of real Mustang buyers here, unlike the image cultivated by advertising. Bookkeepers and families, not NASCAR drivers.
Great article. Interesting to see how everyone dressed up in their Sunday finest for such events.
I grew up in the late ’40’s and the ’50’s. The dress that you see was typical for going somewhere out of the house — even grocery shopping. My mother always wore a dress (with white gloves only if it was very special) and my father always wore a suit and tie — even to the local Friday night High School football games. Dresses and suits were always worn to work unless it was a factory job. Times have certainly changed.
Picture #1 (Jenkins Motor Co.) is from Greenville, North Carolina.
Incidentally, the Mustang’s front license plate is either a booster plate or a tax tag from Greenville – I’m not sure which, but the city issued them annually, in the same design, during much of the 1960s and ’70s. Below is a comparison of the photo with a 1971 version of the plate:
I believe McCombs is still in business in the San Antonio area with multiple dealerships.
Remember him from ’69-’73 in San Antonio, USAF days.
Yep….just Google “Red McCombs” for more info…apparently he started a Ford dealership (selling Edsels…did they have their own dealership?) in 1958. I haven’t lived in San Antonio in 40 years but even back then there were many dealerships with the “McCombs” name on them.
I’ve got a friend who’s into early Mustangs; it’s hard to relate to the excitement these generated back then, though its’ really just a coupe version of the Falcon, guess it was a case of selling the sizzle since the Falcon had been out a number of years and nobody was standing in line to buy one of those, popular as they were, compared to the Mustang. I think our family was just the wrong age at the time for them; though my Uncle would have been about the target age for one of them, a few years later when he bought his first new car it was a ’69 LTD….which was a different kind of “sizzle”. My other uncle had a series of used cars, starting with a ’56 Plymouth, some of which were pretty flashy (he had a red ’62 Chevy Impala 2 door at one point) but none like the Mustang. I started driving almost a decade later and my first car was a Datsun 710, which my Grandmother assumed to be a “sports car” I guess because it wasn’t a full sized car (she never learned to drive, so was hardly a car person). But I think it took a little while for some people to get used to smaller cars like the Mustang as popular as they were. Also, I think fewer families had multiple cars till later on in the 60’s, so for other than a small family it probably wouldn’t be as practical to have a Mustang as an only car…there was still a bit of a size bias towards larger cars that was changing but hadn’t completely gone away yet….though my Dad was an early adopter of imports which he drove from the time he got his first “2nd” car in the mid 60’s (probably why I drove the Datsun as my first car)..he was atypical in that he eventually went back to driving American cars exclusively after he bought his ’80 Dodge Omni.
I wonder how much more than a similarly equipped Falcon that a Mustang cost initially….probably wasn’t that much more I’d guess…nothing like what a Thunderbird cost versus a more pedestrian Ford sedan, which probably was a big part of it’s popularity. It certainly generated traffic for the showroom I’m sure, even if it didn’t translate into a Mustang sale.
Hmm, I am hard pressed to think the key exchange in the second picture is from a salesman to a buyer and not another salesman as a promo shot. Conservative suit and bow tie? Next thing you know he moves to California, throws on a swim suit, and jumps on his new surfboard as Mustangs had that effect.
Why there he is on the right in the white suit. What a transformation! Now that is how to sell a car.
Nice pictures, I love the white hats on the Asian ladies in the rag top, times certainly have changed, you young folks have NO IDEA how up tight America used to be .
-Nate
The one in the first pic is a “plain, Jane” rode for sure. Even the “wheel covers” look out of place on that car.
Then there is this, one of the more famous new Mustang deliveries. Although this one was slightly used when the new owner got it.