What was the secret of the Mustang\u2019s success? It was the right car at the right time. Lee Iacocca\u2019s instincts were dead on. Young people wanted a car that looked sporty, carried a modest price, and could be accessorized to their individual tastes. General Motors, Chrysler and AMC had nothing to match it, giving Ford a lock on an untapped market. (To be sure, Camaro, Firebird, Challenger and Javelin were soon to come.) The splashy, media-savvy debut didn\u2019t hurt either.<\/p>\n
For marketers, Mustang became a textbook study in promotion done right. For gearheads, it came to rival Corvette as America\u2019s automotive icon. And for automakers, it proved once again that timing is everything, and that knowing your customers is the best business strategy of all.<\/p>\n
About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n Matt Anderson is the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. He oversees the development, care and interpretation of the museum\u2019s collection of more than 275 automobiles. Matt also curates the museum\u2019s railroad and aviation collections. He currently serves as president of the National Association of Automobile Museums. Matt has previously worked at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland; the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana; and the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, Minnesota.<\/p>\n About the Series<\/strong><\/p>\n This series of essays explores the vehicles that made up our Ten Cars that Changed the World<\/a> exhibition.\u00a0 The exhibition was a partnership with the Society of Automotive Historians<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe sporty look of a Ferrari, the economy of a Volkswagen, and the appeal of a Thunderbird.\u201d That\u2019s what Ford vice president Lee Iacocca had in mind for his \u201cyouth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-exhibitions","category-ten-cars-that-changed-the-world"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Ten](\"https:\/\/www.studebakermuseum.org\/studebaker-main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/10ChangedTheWorld_RGB-300x300.jpg\")
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