It changed everything.

[Josh Painter]

Excerpt:

Editor's Note: The Ford Mustang was introduced to the public 50 years ago this week at the New York World's Fair. In honor of that momentous day in automotive history, Peter talks about the lasting impact of the Mustang in this week's column. - WG

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. Saying there was change in the air in the U.S. back in 1964 doesn’t do justice to the transformational shift that was taking place. The nation was on the cusp of a cultural explosion encompassing music, social progress and civil rights, one that would rock America to its core, immersing us in the most turbulent decade in this country’s history, creating a seismic shift that still resonates to this day.

The "go-go" 60s was no myth. America back then was on a roll, a nation on an upward trajectory fueled by passionate blue-sky dreamers with a palpable sense that absolutely anything was possible. America had its foot down hard on the gas pedal, embracing everything new and different and wanting more of it all the time. The aura of the space program along with the burgeoning societal shifts had created a general sense of urgency to accomplish, and do, and be, and it swept the country like wildfire.

These prevailing winds did not go unnoticed in Dearborn, Michigan. A hotshot sales guy by the name of Lee Iacocca and his team of marketing rebels felt the pulse of the country changing too. They could hear it in the high-octane soundtrack provided by Motown, which was cranking out hit after hit just a few miles away. And they could feel it with the social change that was accelerating at a rapid pace as well.

http://www.autoextremist.com/current/2014/4/12/it-changed-everything.html

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