The Ford Mustang enjoyed its 57th birthday this past week, commemorating its debut at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York on April 17th, 1964. And to celebrate the occasion this year, the fine folks at Ford released a trove of awesome early Mustang styling documents—including photos from the Lincoln Mercury design concepts.
If you really want to nerd-out on the evolution of the 1964.5 Mustang, check out these original styling notes from the Ford T-5 project!
You see, back in the Mustang’s design planning days, there was a friendly competition in the Blue Oval’s corporate ranks to determine the look of its soon-to-be-ubiquitous pony car. While the design from the Ford home office ultimately won out, these pics from the Lincoln Mercury division are pretty incredible—and we can see hints of future Mustang and Mercury Cougar styling cues too!
Check out the photo gallery below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Thank God Ford didn’t go with any of these concepts. They’re awful.