mustangs

	Iacocca is the son of Italian immigrants. He started working at the Ford Motor Company in 1946. He was 22 years old. Iacoca started as an engineer at Ford. But he soon showed a talent in selling cars. His selling ability led to many promotions. Iacocca became Fords general manager in 1960.Guiding the plans for a new sports car was a huge responsibility. Iacocca wanted the sports cars. He wanted it to be as popular as the corvette. Iacocca put together a team of men and woman with youthful ideas. They were called the fairlane committee. The committee's task was to come up with a small, light, affordable sports car.
THE FIRST MUSTANGS Ford built the first Mustangs in three different styles. The styles were called faces. Ford called them the three faces of Mustang. One of the faces was the Affordable Mustang. Another face was the Luxury Mustang. The third face was the Sporty Mustang. By building three models, Ford tried to make everyone a buyer.
Sporty Mustang The third style was the sporty Mustang. It had a long hood and a fast back. Even the interior was sporty. It had bucket seats and a stylish instrument panel. The sporty look is what made the Mustang famous. No other car looked like it. Iacocca's dreams for the Mustang had come true.
	Shelby Mustangs The people at Ford wanted to make a racing Mustang too. Iacocca called a man named Carroll Shelby. Shelby was a successful race car driver. Shelby had made his own sport cars in the early 1960's. It was called the cobra. It was powered by a for engine. Shelby's cobras were blowing corvettes off the race track. Iacocca shipped 100 white mustangs to Shelby's plant in California. They were fastbacks, had high-performance, and 289-cubic inch engines.
Muscle Tradition Shelby made many different Cobras and Mustangs for Ford. These were limited production cars. This means not very many were made. The engines and body styles changed every year. They changed to stay ahead of the competition. Shelby's cars were the first Ford muscle cars. Muscle cars are made to perform like race cars yet be driven on regular roads. They accelerate quickly reaching high speeds.
New Generations
	Ford introduced the SVO Mustang in the 1980's. The SVO was the new breed of muscle cars. The SVO had a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It could reach 60 miles per hour in less than 10 seconds. Camaros and Firebirds could not keep up with the SVO.

The GT has a high-out put V-8 engine. The instrument panel looks like the cockpit of a fighter jet. It has 16-inch speed-rated tires. Speed-rated tires are made to go faster than regular tired. Speed-rated tires are safer at high speeds.
	The cobra has a 32-valve V-8 engine with 305 horse power. It reaches 60 miles per hour in five and one-half seconds. The Cobra speeds through the quarter-mile 14 seconds. It received a superior rating in rod-handling ability at 80-mils per hour on the test track.