Mustang: Forty Years

by Randy Leffingwell, David Newhardt (Photographer)

NOW IN PAPERBACK!!!Ford's Mustang, launched on April 17, 1964, became the Official Car of the Baby Boom. It was a fortuitous accident of timing and a brilliant result of product planning. This sleek, stylish automobile launched the "Pony Car" genre with a staggering 417,000 sales in its first year. Through 40 years of tough competition from Chrysler and General Motors, the Mustang has survived and outlasted them all. Dozens of interviews bring insight to the 40-year-old story, the on-going legend, and the Mustang's future.'

Genres: Nonfiction, Cars

383 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Photographer and writer, Randy Leffingwell, has more than 35 books in print, primarily on Americana subjects. These cover interests and areas as diverse as the American barn and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, California’s wine country and John Deere farm tractors. His awareness of and attraction to moving things goes back as far as he can remember, to the first Dinky Toys and Match Box cars his father and mother gave him. His practical introduction to real sports cars came several years later when his uncle took him to watch a weekend of racing events at Meadowdale International Raceway in suburban Chicago.

Throughout all this time, however, he imagined himself becoming an architect and his life-long admiration of buildings and design began with frequent trips to downtown Chicago. While in undergraduate studies at Kansas University in the architectural engineering sequence, he discovered photography, journalism, and reawakened an earlier passion for writing. He scarcely looked back as he shifted his major studies from architecture, through English, Art History, psychology, and finally to the William Allen White school of Journalism for a BS in photojournalism.

Following graduation from KU, Randy began a successful career as a photojournalist first at the Kansas City TIMES, then joining the staff of the Chicago SUN-TIMES where he remained for nine years. He then worked as associate editor at AutoWeek magazine in Detroit, before being hired by the Los Angeles TIMES as a writer/photographer. He worked for the TIMES for 11 years, covering everything from news stories to personality profiles to food features throughout Italy, film festivals in France and Utah, and live theater in London. It was, he says, a great job and a great place to work.

His latest project is a large history of Harley-Davidson for them. During this project, he photographed 193 motorcycles from the Harley-Davidson Archives Collection and he completed the corresponding text for the book in early April 2007. Release of this 432 page book tentatively is scheduled for early 2008.

Reviews

[Edward Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mustang: Forty Years by Randy Leffingwell. An ultimate book on the history legacy and the forward movement of America’s well loved muscle car, the Ford Mustang. This is a fascinating look into the history of the pony car complete with beautiful pictures and some little known history detailing Lee Iacocca's involvement in this premiere car. Of course what sparked all of this interest in me was the purchase of my own 2014 Mustang GT. The car is an ultra modern beast with 420 HP and the ability to scoot 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, yet the whole look has a certain retro to it that hails back to the 60’s and 70’s. I’ve owned numerous makes of cars over the years, and this one is my favorite. Did you know Ford attempted to buy out Italy’s Ferrari Corporation in the late 1960s? And what’s odd is, the deal fell through only at the very last minute. I’ve looked for an update to this book, but I have yet to find one. We definitely need a Mustang: Fifty Years.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a little disappointing in that while the photos are beautiful, they don't really match the text, especially when the story is of the early days. And while I enjoyed the history that it told, there was a lot more I wanted to know. The early history of how the Mustang first got off the ground was good, but after that it just kinda hit the highlights.

[Faith Kilgore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have the exact read start and finish dates on many books I have read this year. The dates are approximated, as I have been in & out of the hospital, and on bed rest, and read 2-5 books a day depending on the book & length and my ability to focus. All dates are approximated, by month.