A few days ago I was involved in an email exchange with fellow car friend and former employer, Jimmy Heutel. If the name sounds familiar, it's probably because Jimmy is president of Sunset Ford in Sunset Hills. Along with brothers Tom and John, they operate a five generation family business which will, next year, celebrate 100 years in business at the same location.

Sharing stories about collectible cars, I asked Jimmy if he had to pick a favorite Ford from the fifties, sixties or seventies, what would it be? Always a difficult question for any car lover, the best he could do was narrow it down to TWO. His picks were the 1963 Thunderbird convertible and the 1967 Ford Mustang. We didn't have a lot of time to get into the details of why these were his favorites, but regarding the Mustang, I can speculate what makes this particular model his favorite ... besides the fact that he was 13 years old when it was introduced.

The original Mustang was built around the Ford Falcon compact chassis, sharing nearly all of the mechanical components including its 101 horsepower,170 cubic inch in-line six and 164 horsepower, 260 cubic inch V-8 engines. Two 'Challenger' V-8 engines displacing 289 cubic inches and with horsepower ratings of 210 and 271 were introduced in short order to satisfy the performance-minded buyers.

Styling was clean and crisp and Mustang had a look that was unlike anything produced to date and the public was very enthusiastic with the new car. Tiffany & Company bestowed the sporty new compact their Award for Excellence in American Design, the first and only automobile to be honored with the award.

As innovative as the original Mustang styling was, it had a somewhat mild-mannered appearance when compared to later designs. The 1967 model had a refreshing new look, much bolder with a front grill that had a 'hungry' look about it ... and taller, heavier and more visible taillight housings.

Performance was continually ramped up through the years and by 1967, just two and a half years after its introduction, some very exciting high-performance models were being offered, most notable of which were the Shelby G.T. 350s and G.T. 500s.

My personal memories of the early Mustangs include one that was owned by my father's partner in the service station business— Harold MacFarland. "Mac" shelled out roughly $3,000 for a brand new 1967 notchback coupe in Lime Gold metallic (or 'Poly' as it was called) with a black vinyl convertible-look vinyl roof covering. His was one of 356,271 hardtop coupes built for the model year.

When I worked nights at Han-De Super Service, Mac occasionally gave me a lift in his new Mustang. I always enjoyed the ride from our home in north county to University City as Mac was a 'sporty" driver and his Mustang had the Challenger V-8 and four-speed manual transmission. He was one of those guys who, when approaching what appeared to be a slower driver in a big, family sedan sitting at the next stoplight, would get in the outside lane on Hanley Road and be first off the line from the red light. I had my drivers license by then but, unfortunately, Mac never trusted me, a punk kid with only a couple year's driving experience under my belt, with his new high-performance Mustang. That was probably good thinking on Mac's part!

The Mustang was the most successful new model introduction in Ford history and is the only original "pony car" to remain in uninterrupted production over four decades of development and revision. Automotive historians consider the first generation Mustang to include model years 1964-1/2-1973. However, many significant cosmetic and mechanical modifications were made during this period.

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Trivia Answers: 1. Most people will guess Wilson Pickett who introduced the single in 1966, but it was originally recorded by Mack Rice the year prior. Pickett's version received much greater fame on the charts, however. According to music historian Tom Shannon, the song started as a joke when Della Reese wanted a new Ford Mustang. Rice called his original version "Mustang Mama" but changed the title to "Mustang Sally" at the suggestion of Aretha Franklin. 2. Mustang is third in place behind 'F-Series' pickups (although the F-Series has been titled in many derivations) and Falcon. Yes, the Falcon, in a modern configuration, is still being produced in Australia.