Vanderbilt Cup Races

Identify the automobile:
• 1963 Mustang II Prototype
Which company built this automobile after receiving the chassis?
• Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST)
When and where was it introduced?
• October 6, 1963, at Watkins Glen Raceway in Watkins Glen, New York.
At its introduction, what was the explanation why this automobile was built? 

• Lee Iacocca wanted a new sports car with a novel layout to compete with the Corvair Monza, leading to the mid-engined Mustang I concept car; but Ford wanted a car with a conventional layout and a back seat that would be inexpensive to produce.  The Mustang II prototype was developed to introduce the new concept to the public prior to the introduction of the production Mustang, as the “poor man’s Thunderbird.
What were the unique features of this automobile?
• Electric trunk release
• Emergency brake concealed underneath the car
• Rubber was placed between each leaf spring to keep them from squeaking at the auto shows
• The gas pedal is hinged at the base like the Falcon instead of free hanging as found in Mustangs.

I think this is the 1964 1/2 Mustang III DST built by Dearborn Steel Company, when they received it from Ford Motor company they shortened the chassis wheelbase installed a high performance Engine & Special transmission in it and gave it a fiberglass body. It was a special Show Car or Prototype that was used for showing by Ford at the Caravan Custom car Shows. I think it might of been the car that was introduced at the 1964 Words Fair in Flushing Meadows Queens, NY

Identify the automobile
-1963 Mustang II prototype displayed in front of Ford’s styling studio

Which company built this automobile after receiving the chassis?
-Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST)

When and where was it introduced?
October 6, 1963, Ford/Lee Iacocca unveiled the Mustang II at Watkins Glen Raceway in Watkins Glen, New York. After Watkins Glen, the Mustang II was placed on the auto show circuit until early 1964.

At its introduction, what was the explanation why this automobile was built?
-From the Henry Ford blog;
‘The Mustang II previewed the production Ford Mustang we all know and love, but the concept car was designed and built after the production Mustang project already was well underway! Why? It’s a case of managing public expectations.

Most Mustang histories start with the 1962 Mustang I, but devoted pony fans know that Mustang I was an entirely separate project from the production car. Ford built the “Mustang Experimental Sports Car” (its original name – the “I” was a retrospective addition) to spark interest in the company’s activities. Ford was going back into racing and looking for a quick way to create some buzz about the exciting things happening in Dearborn. The plan worked a bit too well. When Mustang I debuted at Watkins Glen in October 1962, and then hit the car show circuit, the public went crazy and sent countless letters to Ford begging the company to put the little two-seater into production.

At the same time Mustang I was being built, another team at Ford was working on the production Mustang that would debut in April 1964. Mustang I’s popularity created a problem: Everyone loved the two-seat race car, but would they feel the same about the four-seat version? The solution was to build a new four-seat prototype closely based on the production Mustang’s design.’

What were the unique features of this automobile?
-From the Henry Ford blog;
‘Ford designers removed the front and rear bumpers, altered the headlights and grille treatment, and fitted Mustang II with a removable roof. While the car looked different from the production Mustang, a few of the production car’s trademark styling cues were retained, including the C-shaped side sculpting and the tri-bar taillights. Mustang II also consciously borrowed from Mustang I, employing the 1962 car’s distinct white paint and blue racing stripes. Conceptually and physically, the four-seat Mustang II formed a bridge linking the 1962 Mustang I with the 1965 production car. Mustang II was a hit when it debuted at Watkins Glen in October 1963, and when the production version premiered six months later, there were few complaints about the four seats instead of two.’

It would appear that the Mustang even has a Facebook page of its’ own;

https://www.facebook.com/pages/1963-Mustang-Prototype-II-Concept-Car/296315207063178

Looks like a ‘63 Mustang II Prototype (Concept).
Had been kept in storage over the years, in Maine and Detroit.
Had a removable top.

That’s the 1963 Mustang II Prototype or concept car. It was built by Dearborn Steel Tubing and introduced to the public on October 6, 1963 at the Watkins Glen Raceway, Watkins Glen, NY. The reason given for its construction was “to bridge the public’s perception of the Mustang I two-seater from 1962 and the production Mustang to come in April, 1964”. Some of its unique features include a removable hard-top; no front or rear bumbers; and the nose, with its grille-covered headlights, is integral with the two front fenders.

From the numbers in front of it it was easy to find… Another exciting mustang protype!

You probably have this in documentation already, but just in case…

—http://www.mustangandfords.com/featured-vehicles/mump-1212-up-close-1963-mustang-2-prototype/mustang-2-specifics.html

—http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/1404-mustang-ii-prototype-pace-car-replica-star-at-vegas-exhibit/?cx_source=cxrecs&cx_navSource=related-bottom#cxrecs_s

—http://blog.thehenryford.org/2014/06/the-1963-mustang-ii-2/

It is the Ford prototype known as the Mustang II. Built in 1963 under Henry Ford II’s direction. The Idea was to get some buyers back who were upset with the ending of the 2 place T-bird and to go after the import sports car market. This car was shown at the US Gran Prix in 1963. It was based on a Falcon platform with a 108” wheelbase. The mid 1964 production Mustang would be first shown at the New York World Fair. Had Edsel Ford lived longer I am sure there would have been a Ford sports car sooner. Benson and William Clay hosted the Sports Car Review at the museum when I was a kid in Michigan.

No clue; possibly the first Mustang convertible?  The headlight treatment reminds me of those gross, bloated, big Thunderbirds.  My; no telling what oddities one finds when one strays off the LIMP RoW (not counting Shelbys, Chryslers, or cross arms with insulators - way to go, Sammy!).  :·)  Sam, III

P. S. - Dave - be sure to take Sammy to that mysterious old electronics shack near the OBVR bridge <http://sbiii.com/limpenas.html#mystery>.

The original Mustang II, a concept car? derived from one of the early prototype design of the production Mustang, not the Pinto-powered Mustang II they were pushing on the odd-even gas lines of the ‘70s. It was first displayed on October 1963 in Detroit, designed by Mr. Gail Halderman under Joe Oros at Ford Motor Company. Hal Sperlich was also responsible for its design under the Gene Bordinat team at Ford. Eventually was used in Arizona by the Ford Division in the original Mustang commercials, had its roof chopped off as a convertible, and never returned as promised to Mr. Halderman, its primary designer. Was intended to be a ‘personal car’ with smaller rear seats (all new ideas of the time).

http://bigdogperformanceparts.com/blogs/blog/tagged/history
(Scroll down to ‘The Strange Journey That Led To The Original Ford Mustang’)

http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Design/Halderman_interview.htm

From Greg D. Merksamer:
HI, HOWARD!  Mystery Friday Foto #19 is most-familiar to me as the Ford Mustang II concept given its world debut at the October, 1963 U.S. Grand Prix in upstate Watkins Glen, NY.  It was Ford’s more practical four-seat follow-up to the fully-open two-seat Mustang I shown at the same race one year prior in 1962.  The Mustang II was also treated to an encore showing at the 1964 International Auto Show in the New York Coliseum (the above photo was taken by future Pierce Arrow Society Publications Director Bernard J. Weis) to herald the production Mustang’s unveiling at the New York World’s Fair the Monday after the show closed. - See You At Greenwich!  GREGG D. MERKSAMER, Historian of the NY Intl. Auto Show