65 Mustang vs. 62 GT Hawk

[wlfrench]

Maybe this has been talked about before but a search by me did not turn up anything. It just seems to me that somebody working on the new Mustang project, at Ford, back in the early 60s just had to be looking at the 62 GT Hawk when designing the 65 Mustang. Or, am I the only one that sees this?

[52hawk]

Well,if you're talking about the roofline,Studebaker did borrow that from the T'Bird..I always thought Ford borrowed the fender and door 'cut-out'[on the Mustang] from the 53'-56' Studebaker though.

[wlfrench]

Yeah, the roof line is there but also the long hood and short rear deck. Although the Mustang is a bit more extreme. I found this so I guess I'm not the first to have this thought.

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/what-if-1962-studebaker-gran-turismo-eagle-could-it-have-out-mustanged-the-mustang/

[Noxnabaker]

I reckon the absolutely first pony-car (meaning long hood, short trunk & powerful engine) was the -57 Golden Hawk.
I know it wasn't a group in those days but still.
& a -62 Fury with hottest 413 version in kinda is a strong member too.

[Pat Dilling]

Well given the Mustang is a lot smaller (20 inches in length and 12 inches in wheelbase) I think comparison to the 62 T-bird might be a closer match. The rear deck of a C/K car is really not that small/short

[clonelark]

Give me the Hawk any day. Much better quality. I've owned both.

[TWChamp]

Give me the Hawk any day. Much better quality.

I agree, plus the lines are much nicer on the Hawk.

[8E45E]

Until the 'Grande' trim level came out in 1969, the Mustang was never marketed as a 'personal luxury' car like the G.T. Hawk was.

Craig

[Skip Lackie]

I'm not gonna debate what the first pony car was, but the long hood, short deck combination was a feature of many sports cars as far back as the 1930s. Take a look at the various British and Italian sports cars from that period. Maybe the first one to be sold in the US in any quantity was the Jaguar XK120. I used to doodle car designs while bored in school in the 1950s. While they're all pretty derivative, their one common feature was long hood, short deck.

[Noxnabaker]

I reckon a open 2-seater is a sport-car & the same or even with rear seat (as for example 60's Aston Martin DB) with fixed roof is a GT-car & if it has a rear seat & is US-made it's a pony-car, all of them sporty in a way, but a Jaguar XJ120, 140 or 150 pony-cars? Not that awfully sure...

[6hk71400]

I do remember in a Motor Trend in the era we are talking about that there was a photo that someone at Ford was working on a clay model and the caption said something about the car similar to the "late Studebaker Hawk" and it didn't have much of a chance. The funny thing I remember is the rear treatment looked like a 63 Pontiac Tempest/Lemans. I don't rermember if it was on the Mustang or the Cougar the article was focused but I do remember the photo.

[nels]

I thought the Avanti was pretty much accepted as the first pony car, just that popularity in numbers was not there?

[8E45E]

I thought the Avanti was pretty much accepted as the first pony car, just that popularity in numbers was not there?

The Avanti wasn't cheap enough to be a 'pony car', either in cost, or materials. And all those 'pony cars' had a base model with a 6-cylinder engine; something never offered or contemplated for it. The Avanti fit more of the classification of a 'grand touring' car, much like a concurrent Maserati 3500GT of the time, but for a few thousand less.

Craig