Light design DNA

[Twin Turbo]

Nice little infographic (for those that need their Mustang history spelt out for them )

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[JohnZiraldo]

Well that is an interesting twist. 'Tri-bar tail lights....brought forward into the headlights'.
I thought the Tri-bar LEDS in the S550 headlights were a nod to the original gills.

I wonder if Ford had intended the original triple gills to be associated with the tri-bar tail lights. That never occurred to me before.

 

[Twin Turbo]

Well that is an interesting twist. 'Tri-bar tail lights....brought forward into the headlights'.
I thought the Tri-bar LEDS in the S550 headlights were a nod to the original gills.

I wonder if Ford had intended the original triple gills to be associated with the tri-bar tail lights. That never occurred to me before.

Yep, I think the triple gills were a not to the tail lights. Just like the tri-bar pony badge with the red, white and blue elements. There were a few "triple" aspects on the early cars

 

[JohnZiraldo]

I did a search on 'three bars' to see if I could find anything that might give a clue as to why Ford put three bars on the front and back of the original Mustang.

I was thrilled with one item I found.

A famous sire of Quarter Horses, Three Bars was...a member of the American Quarter Horse Association's American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame

Three Bars was foaled in 1940 and died in 1968, so was an active sire of many famous quarter horses at the time the Mustang was foaled. Hmmm. There is a resemblance.

I wonder!

Has anyone ever heard any stories of why three bars?

This story would be a cool bit of Mustang history if it were anything more than a coincidence.

 

[Twin Turbo]

Nice find, John

 

[JohnZiraldo]

I have posted some questions on a couple of Ford sites and the American Quarter Horse Association website to see if anyone can add anything more than coincidence to this story.

 

[Mriley]

I thought the gills were just a play on the Mustang's shark nose. Either way, it would be a very interesting twist, although I have my doubts that this wouldn't have come to light already if it were the real origin behind it.

 

[Rickycardo]

The Mustang was originally named for the P51 Mustang fighter of ww2 fame. There are many tri-bar cues to be taken from the aircraft in the picture. Note the 3 ribs on the landing gear door directly in front of the landing light.

 

[Revenant]

I think Road&Track was spewing conjecture there. The LED DRL gills are homage to the gills on the original car and are not "taillights brought forward".

 

[S3XPanther]

I think Road&Track was spewing conjecture there. The LED DRL gills are homage to the gills on the original car and are not "taillights brought forward".

This.

I've heard several comments from the design team in various videos discussing homage to the gills.

 

[Tony Alonso]

I think Road&Track was spewing conjecture there. The LED DRL gills are homage to the gills on the original car and are not "taillights brought forward".

This.

I've heard several comments from the design team in various videos discussing homage to the gills.

Agree...

 

[JohnZiraldo]

After watching the Jay Leno video with Bob Fria, the Mustang historian and author of Mustang Genesis: The Creation of the Pony Car, I contacted Bob and asked him if he could shed any light on the origin or the three bars in the gills, tail lights, and pony emblems.

Here is his response:

Hi John,
That’s a unique coincidence with the horse “Three Bars”, but I know of no direct connection with Mustang designers. I spoke with Phil Clark’s daughter Holly, recognized expert on all things Clark (her Dad deceased). She related over time many things about how her Dad came up with the horse theme, but never tied it to any particular horse. Only dead Phil could ever answer that one.

I spoke with Johnny Najjar first hand, the elite Ford designer and Bob Negstad (Mustang suspension engineer) who were in the room when the 3 bar emblem was suggested. As mentioned in my book, when the horse was suggested, the question was how does any one know it’s an American horse. Phil Clark, the design artist, drew 3 bars in and colored them red, white and blue. He said “there, now we know it’s an American horse”.

With regards to the 3 vertical bar tail lights, they may have been a take off on the 3-bar horse emblem, but that emblem had not yet evolved when the initial drawings of the proposed Mustang were drawn. Yes, they were on the original concept Mustang I, but that emblem supposedly was never referred to when the new emblem was designed for the production Mustang according to Gale Halderman.

Joe Oros, head of the design studio, was known for always insisting Ford cars be designed around round tail lights – many of which you can name. But when it came to the new concept to become known as Mustang, he insisted on a clean slate, using all new designs. I can only guess that when the preliminary design came in with the 3-bar tail lights, since they fit so well into the allotted space and design, he agreed to use them. He is also recently deceased, so no good answers there from him.

Hope this answers some questions.

My thanks to Bob Fria for his response and his permission to post it here.

 

[Tony Alonso]

After watching the Jay Leno video with Bob Fria, the Mustang historian and author of Mustang Genesis: The Creation of the Pony Car, I contacted Bob and asked him if he could shed any light on the origin or the three bars in the gills, tail lights, and pony emblems.

...

My thanks to Bob Fria for his response and his permission to post it here.

Thanks for the follow-up!

 

[Patio208]

I think Road&Track was spewing conjecture there. The LED DRL gills are homage to the gills on the original car and are not "taillights brought forward".

All of the designers have said it's homage to the original and that was my first thought also. But I recall an interview with Jay Mays from years ago where he stated that he always liked to have repeating design elements throughout a vehicle's design which he referred to as "friends". I can't find that interview anywhere but I believe it was in reference to the Ford 49 concept. So in my opinion there is some truth in both the homage and tail light theory.

 

[ForceRECON2010]

This seems to be a headlight theme that the S197 started out with as well (i know it started originally with the first gen)... but when the redesign hit, the gills by the headlight went away. But it was also only two bars with no light elements. Seeing it come back on the new car in such a unique way is really cool to me. Will make it very easy to pick out at night. I think its really good to see and kinda creative as well. That's just my two cents

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