Origins

• The Mustang was the brainchild of Ford Division General Manager Lee Iacocca and engineer Donald Frey. Iacocca wanted a sporty family car that appealed to the baby boomer generation that was just becoming of driving age. The Mustang was initially offered as a coupe in mid-1964 and a short while later the convertible and fastback were offered. The car featured a long hood, short rear deck, tri-sectioned taillamps, slightly concave side body panels and a galloping horse placed in the center of a thin horizontal grille. Inside were front bucket seats, a console and sport-style steering wheel, according to Time.com.
  
  

Refinement

• The Mustang was based on the Ford Falcon frame and even featured a number of Falcon components throughout. For the '66 Mustang, the instrument panel was redesigned to distance the Mustangs further from the Falcon. Ford replaced the 260-cubic-inch V-8 with a 289. The body panels received chrome hash marks behind the doors to spruce up the rather plain styling. The front grille lost its chrome crosshairs that held the galloping horse inside a rectangle to instead have the horse floating alone in the rectangle.
  
  

Shelby Mustang

• Retired race driver Carroll Shelby developed the limited production, custom Shelby Mustangs 2+2 fastbacks from 1965 through 1969. The 1965 version, the GT 350, was a stripped-down model sans rear seat, a Paxton supercharged 289 V-8, sport suspension and reduced insulation to drop the weight. The 1965 model prompted complaints from customers for its spartan styling. Shelby returned most creature comforts in the 1966 GT350 model, including the rear seat and insulation, along with an optional automatic transmission.
  
  

GT350H

• Perhaps the most unique '66 Mustang is the Shelby GT350H model, designed specifically for the Hertz Rent-a-Car company. The GT350H featured a distinctive black paint scheme with gold racing stripes and was powered by a 306-horsepower 289 V-8. The car was marketed as a rental car to weekend car enthusiasts who wanted to test the mettle of a Shelby race car. Only 1,001 1966 GT350Hs were produced and are extremely rare and sought after by collectors today.
  
  

Specifications and Production

• The 1966 Mustang still featured the 120-horsepower, 200-cubic-inch inline six-cylinder engine from 1965 as a standard powerplant. The car also was equipped with the optional 200-, 225- or 271-hp 289. The GT350R racing version was equipped with a 360-hp 289. In all, 499,751 hardtop coupes were produced, plus 35,698 2+2 fastbacks and 72,119 convertibles.