Fifty years ago today, America’s historic journey with the automobile took an adventurous detour. On April 17, 1964, Detroit’s Ford Motor company unveiled the Mustang at the New York World’s Fair, trading stamps not included.
Billed as the country's first “affordable, sporty car,” the Mustang was among the first in a new generation of smaller, sleeker passenger cars, “pony cars", that would soon be joined by imitators like the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird.
The pioneering model has since become iconic. Its rich and eventful history is explored in a new book, “Mustang and the Pony Car Revolution.” Author Michael W. R. Davis says the Mustang has prevailed, for the most part, because it's been both fun and affordable.