It may not be totally obvious today, but the one car that inspired the 1965 Ford Mustang more than any other was the first-generation Corvair Monza of 1960-64.
This is the sort of thing you’ll almost never hear an auto executive admit out loud, but in his 1984 memoir, Iacocca: An Autobiography, former Ford boss Lee Iacocca frankly declared that the basic concept for probably his most famous car, the 1965 Mustang, actually came from a competitor’s product: namely, the Chevrolet Corvair.
“General Motors,” Iaococca wrote, “had taken the Corvair, an economy car, and transformed it into the hot-selling Corvair Monza simply by adding a few sporty accessories such as bucket seats, stick shift and fancy interior trim. We at Ford had nothing to offer to the people who were considering a Monza, but it was clear to us that they represented a growing market.”
In just a few words, Iacocca nailed both the Corvair Monza’s content and its appeal. Introduced in May of 1960, the Monza included a full vinyl interior with sporty front bucket seats, deep-pile carpeting, a special steering wheel with chrome horn ring, and other deluxe extras. Although sales were a little slow the partial first year, the volume shot straight up in 1961 to more than 140,000 units—better than half the Corvair’s total deliveries. For 1962 a convertible and a wagon were added to the Monza line, and at mid-year in ’62 the Monza Spyder Coupe and Convertible arrived, offering a 150-hp turbocharged version of the air-cooled flat six and other performance enhancements.
This may seem like a stretch to enthusiasts of today, but as car buyers of the early ’60s checked out the Monza in the showrooms, with its bucket seats, vinyl cockpit, and four-speed floor shifter—complete with white cue-ball gearshift knob—they could see some Corvette flavor in the Chevy compact. (GM interior stylist Blaine Jenkins was credited with the Monza’s compelling cabin design.) And just to make sure shoppers didn’t miss the connection, the Chevy ad people included the Corvette in the Monza’s print campaign.
All this was carefully studied by Iacocca and the Fairlane Committee, his hand-picked task force assembled to identify emerging market opportunities. (Members included Hal Sperlich and Don Frey.) They could see that the 18-to-34 age bracket was set to blow up, that soon it would account for more than half the new car market. And clearly, the Monza had qualities that spoke to these buyers. For 1961, Ford introduced the Futura, a bucket-seat version of the Falcon, but it was merely a stopgap. On April 17, 1964, the company launched its full-scale engagement of the youth market: the 1965 Mustang.
Corvair inspired the Mustang? Ford already had the Falcon and that reputedly inspired the Nova. From memory the Falcon coupe arrived in 63. With all the options as well
And a Mustang is a Falcon in drag! Good car and the looks inspired sales and with all the negative press about the Corvair.
Much of the Nader crusade was very unfair but the car was different for US consumers.
A poor mans Porsche with more power and similar weird handling!
You implying Lee lied? Also, Nader’s book was 1965, so it has nothing to do with this history. There was no negative Corvair press at this time.
The first time that Lido saw a Corvair in Monza trim was probably at the 1960 New Car Show circuit. Displayed at the Detroit, Chicago and New York Auto Shows were a pair of modified Corvair coupes dubbed the Masculine and Feminine Monzas, or Mr. and Mrs. Monza. These show cars were prepared to show potential buyers what could be in the future. Mr. Monza was very close to the production 1960 Monza coupe that came out in May of 1960. Mrs. Monza had a very special interior that rivaled Cadillac class at the time with brocade cloth bucket seats and upscale appointments. After the show circuit Mr. Monza was scrapped as he was built from a non-VIN body-in-white prototype. Mrs. survived and was sold to a GM employee in April of 1961. She lives on in my garage here in Southeast Michigan. Hoping to complete the restoration and cruise down to Dearborn and prowl the streets around Ford’s Glass House in the near future!
I find it ironic that the article states that the Corvair inspired the Mustang, yet the demise of the Corvair is largely blamed on the popularity of the Mustang. GM was losing sales to Ford, and the Camaro was a direct attempt to go against the Mustang. So it’s the old “Chicken or egg” question.
Ironic is a very appropriate word for the Mustang Corvair connection!
The one inspired Lee Iacocca to build the other!
The other was so well designed and such a history making success that it became necessary for the Chevrolet to respond.
Chevy could have invested in a larger power pack so the Corvair could compete in the horse power wars, but instead they took the next model Corvair designs and adapted them to a front engine variant, the Camaro and the Firebird from Pontiac.
GM was caught completely by surprise by the Mustang, and it took them three painful years as they watched the Mustang make history with their concept!!