Mustang by Design: Gale Halderman and the Creation of Ford's Iconic Pony Car

by Jimmy Dinsmore, James Halderman

Look back at the original Ford Mustang’s inception, design, development, and production from the perspective of Gale Halderman, an award-winning designer and stylist who was at the epicenter of the action. Gale Halderman’s initial design sketch formed the basis of the Mustang. He reveals his involvement in the project and offers a unique first-hand account and behind-the-scenes viewpoint. Authors and Mustang enthusiasts James Dinsmore and James Halderman go beyond the front doors at Ford into the design center, testing grounds, and Ford facilities to get the real, unvarnished story. The process of taking a car from sketch to clay model to prototype to preproduction and finally finished model is retraced in insightful detail. During the process, many fascinating experimental cars, such as the Mustang I two-seater, Mustang II prototype, Mustang Allegro, and Shorty, were built. But eventually the Mustang based on the existing Ford Falcon received the nod for final production. In a gala event, it was unveiled at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. The Mustang received public accolades and critical acclaim, and soon it became a runaway hit. Ford designers and Gale Halderman designed and developed the first fastback Mustangs to compliment the coupes. The classic Mustang muscle cars to follow, including the GT, Mach 1, and others, are profiled as well. With stinging losses from the Edsel fresh in minds at Ford, the Mustang project was an uphill battle from day one. Lee Iacocca and his assembled team had a herculean task to convince Henry Ford II to take a risk on a new concept of automobile, but with the help of Hal Sperlich’s detailed market research, the project received the green light. Henry Ford II made it clear that jobs were on the line, including Iacocca’s, if it failed. Without question, the 1964 1/2 Mustang is one of the most important and influential cars in automotive history. When Ford launched the Mustang, it created an automotive revolution. The Mustang changed automotive history and ushered in the pony car era as a nimble, powerful, and elegantly styled sports coupe. But it could so easily have stumbled and wound up on the scrap pile of failed new projects. This is the remarkable and dramatic story of how the Mustang came to life, the demanding design and development process, and, ultimately, the triumph of the iconic American car.

176 pages, Hardcover

Published September 12, 2018

Reviews

[Jak Krumholtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The documentary A Faster Horse mentioned the designer of the first Mustang had turned his Ohio barn into a museum open for visitors. Picturing an epic road trip with my father who’s had his ’69 Mustang since 1970 I reached out to Halderman. Turns out this one in a lifetime destination was just five miles and two turns away from my parents. Halderman gave us a tour of sketches and some cars but the real highlight was just hanging out in a sitting room and listening to stories of working at Ford and traveling the world. He was very welcoming and open with his time even though it was father’s day.

This book does a great job of capturing Gale and I would have loved to have asked him questions about things I learned in it. (He was taught by a designer of the Tucker?!) I’m very thankful we got to spend the morning with Halderman and was sad to learn about his passing a few months ago. Highly recommend this book to anyone into Mustangs.

[Thomas Petri · Rating 5 out of 5]

O.K., first of all, the fact about the Mustang I that gave me the biggest kick was finding out that the logo was designed by a fellow Hungarian, Charles Keresztes But, the story is really about Gale Halderman, who designed the Mustang, His career with the Ford Motor Company, and the many prominent people there that he worked with. Henry Ford II of course plays prominently in the birth of the Mustang, mostly, because he had to be convinced of the wisdom of producing such an automobile. Which is where Lee Iacocca comes in, the Mustang was his baby and, among a few notable others, Gale Halderman made it happen. Halderman created the iconic design that won "the deuces" heart and his support for the bringing the Mustang to market. The rest is history! The book continues with the story of Halderman's continuing success at Ford and closes with a look at his life in retirement, with the Halderman Barn Museum central to his ongoing love of Mustang, the car that gave him the opportunity to "strut his stuff". The book is also replete with a fascinating collection of photos illustrating the design and evolution of the Mustang and much more of Halderman's creative designing.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the car that nearly wasn't following the disaster of the Edsel. Henry Ford II wasn't willing to put a lot of money into the car and if not for Lee Iacocca protecting the car it might have been shut down. The fastback was done in secret and Iacocca was shown a fiberglass version of it and he gave the go-ahead. Gale Halderman didn't think that Henry Ford II ever authorized the fastback. Halderman also went on to work on the Lincoln Town cars which the Ford family used as their personal cars but there were three Mustangs that Henry Ford had specially built to order, one of which was given to Edsel Ford II on his 16th birthday. There were also several Bullitt specials in the same green as the original. It shared a lot with the Ford Falcon. The Fox body might have made the car more economical gas wise, but it just did't look like a Mustang and a Mazda-Ford joint project came within a hairsbreadth of bearing the Mustang badge. Gale Halderman now has the Gale Halderman Museum in Tipp City, Ohio, the Mecca for Mustang owners and fans.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book on the birth of the Ford Mustang.
It contains 12 chapters of very well-researched material from the beginning of it's creation. It contains many color pictures throughout the book showing the car interiors, exteriors, and close ups of the engines. Some pics og the cars being made on the assembly lines and has some vintage black & white pics too.
It includes charts showing paint color codes for 1964 1/2- 1966, engine codes for 1965 & 1966, 1st-4th Generation Mustangs just to name a few.
It gives detailed description of concept cars and other types of Mustangs that I was not familiar with.
There is also a chapter dedicated to the Halderman Barn Museum.
This was a well-researched and well-written book with outstanding photos.
A must-have for anyone who loves Mustangs and would like to read more on how they came to be.