Editors note: Bob Fria had graciously written many articles for the Pony Express during the course of his membership. Reprints of his articles will be published from time to time in future issues of the Pony Express for the wealth of knowledge he bestowed on us and as a remembrance of him and his contributions. Photos courtesy of Ford Motor Company.

I feel it my duty, to once again, as I have tried for many years, to hopefully forever correct the misconception of how the Mustang name was derived. As folklore goes, the name was derived from Ford designer John Najjar’s like for the P-51 Mustang aircraft. That information is incorrect. I am the author of Mustang Genesis, a hardbacked book published by the noted historical publisher, McFarland & Co., 2010. In the 10 years of research for this book, I spent a great deal of research time in authenticating the correct derivation of the name used to identify the new model Mustang.

First, it must be recognized the original 1962 2-seat Mustang was merely a concept experimental car not physically associated with the final production car in any way, not even in the name. Therein lies the rub. The John Najjar story is based strictly on finding a name for that one-of-a-kind 2-seat concept car. Had Najjar, a Ford stylist working on the project, not even mentioned the name to his boss Bob McGuire, this airplane story would have never gotten started. McGuire and Najjar were the ones who chose the new name for the concept. McGuire felt the name of the P-51 as suggested by Najjar was “too airplaney” and rejected its use. Najjar re-suggested the name Mustang as associated with the wild horse – an equestrian version name. McGuire liked it in that context, and they both agreed right then and there it would be called Mustang, named after the horse. And so, it was. When the useful life of the 2-seat version was complete, it was agreed the name would be placed in the “already used – dead file” for concept names, and there it would remain.

Now we have to switch gears completely. Relegate all we have learned about naming the 2-seat version of that concept to history, and let’s move on to the 4-seat production car of today we all know that was introduced in the spring of 1964. Another car, another story. And they can’t be mixed, hence much of the name confusion.

The 4-seat prototyped car was moving into its initial version in the fall of 1962. And with no formal name. Time was running short by late 1963 to come up with a name, and after already suggested names had been rejected, Lee Iacocca directed the J. Walter Thompson ad agency to come up with a potential name list. Thompson employee John Conley was dispatched to the Detroit Public Library to search for names related to animals. That list was narrowed down to six names. One of those names was Mustang, the name not being derived from the original 2 seat concept car, but simply chosen as an animal name from a suggested library listing. Lee Iacocca told me himself the final name would be chosen from that list by both he and V.P. Styling, Gene Bordinat. Those two decided the chosen name would be Mustang, “because it suggested moving fast through the countryside”. So it was Lee Iacocca and Gene Bordinat who should be rightfully credited with choosing the final name. This is corroborated by both Mustang Program Assistant Manager Hal Sperlich and stylist Gale Halderman.

It is important to disseminate this information to as many Mustangers as is possible, in the context of correcting previous naming misinformation, to that which is researched technically correct. Let’s decapitate this P-51 aircraft naming myth, which applied only to the 2-seat concept car, once and for all!

Happy Trails!

Bob Fria
Pony Express, Sep-Oct, 2017