This year at the Winton Festival of Speed, we will celebrate 60 years of the mighty Ford Mustang.
Introduced on April 17, 1964, at the New York World's Fair, the Ford Mustang was an immediate success, selling over 22,000 units on the first day and labelled, “The Car Dreams are Made of''.
Now 60 years on, this Iconic Pony Car has truly captured the world and has been a prominent figure in American pop culture, appearing in movies like "Bullitt," "Gone in 60 Seconds," and "Need for Speed." It remains a symbol of American automotive innovation and performance, continuously evolving while maintaining its classic appeal.
The original “Eleanor” 1973 Ford Mustang that appeared in the ‘76 cult classic “Gone in 60 Seconds”
So influential in pop culture is the Ford Mustang, that the original 1968 Mustang that appeared in the movie Bullitt starring Steve McQueen in the same year, sold for $3.4 million at an auction in 2020.
The original 1968 Ford Mustang that appeared in the movie Bullitt.
The Mustang has always had a strong presence in motorsports, particularly in drag racing, road racing, and NASCAR.
Australia in fact, has the right to Mustangs first ever race win. In November 1964, “Stormin’” Norm Beechey landed a 289 Hard Top in Australia, painted in the famous Neptune Blue colours and debuted the car at the 1965 Catalina Park round and later winning the April 1965 ATC Title at Sandown.
It wasn’t long after that, that legends Pete Geoghegan and Bob Jane were in Mustangs, before Alan Moffat took Mustang to a new level in his awesome Coca Cola 1969 Trans Am Mustang.
In 1985 Dick Johnson adopted Ford Mustang for Group A Racing and Ford now Races Mustang to this very day in Supercars, Nascar and even LeMans.
The success of Mustang through Shelby America and SCCA Trans Am Racing is still alive and well today, just look at the fields of fast Mustangs in Group NC, Group S and Dicks Greens Tuff Mustang in Group C&A. This year we celebrate 60 years of Ford Mustang and invite all owners and Mustang car clubs to join us.
The 2024 Winton Festival of Speed will take place on August 2, 3 and 4 at the historic Winton Motor Raceway. Tickets are available here or at the gate on the day. Patrons under 17 years of age are free to enter if accompanied by an adult.
Visit this event page for more information.
Authors: Trent Collett/Brett Florence