65 Mustang
And
who can deny the 1965 Mustang of its significance in this blog series? No one.
The pony car that took off and made the rest of the automakers (at least the US
ones) get to work and provide car enthusiasts the same muscle and designs that we see in today's models.
Mattel released this casting in 1984 and
continues in the lineup even into 2020. That makes for 36 years in the lineup.
The 65 Mustang convertible has been featured in some portion of the lineup for
all but 3 years [1]. The casting would now be considered a classic as it passed
35 years since launch last year. It is additionally interesting to note once
again that there was a Mustang in the original 16 lineup called the “Custom
Mustang” but the body style for the “Custom Mustang” in the original 16 was in
the 68 fastback Mustang model and not the 65 represented here. The castings
most notable feature is the taillights. The taillights are part of the bumper
material and hang over the body rather than to just be embossed into the rear
end of the car like other castings with similar styling. This feature really
gives the back of the casting some depth and mates it to the real-life car. It
features an opening hood to this day and has remained a convertible for all its
years of casting. The interior is done very well and includes ribbing on the
seats. The floor console is detailed and there is a floor shifter. The
dashboard is basic but carries the lines of the real car. The steering wheel is
very well detailed, not just the typical solid disc seen in other convertible
models. The windshield is also detailed with an embossed wiper and window trim (that
would be chrome on the real car).
The Mustang has always been an integral part
of US automotive history. The very idea of Hot Wheels was born from this era
and its interpretation of the automobile. The Mustang has always remained
relevant as it was (and still is) Fords only continued production entry in the
muscle car / sports car segment. The Mustangs of today still bear some of the
heritage looks of the era, and the first body style. It is considered one of
the “Pony” cars which is a segment that this car actually helped create. Pony
cars were smaller, yet sportier offerings [2] - an effort to keep buyers away
from the European entries that were starting to catch the eyes of US buyers.
They were lightweight, agile and would also serve well on the road racing
circuits that were also home of the European offerings. The Mustang sold well
and is evident even to this day as there are always multiple interpretations at
any car show event. Carol Shelby added his version to the lineup late in 65 as
the GT350 which offered a 289 and some body tweaks such as the fastback and
window louvres. There are Hot Wheels versions of this in recent release years
and I will cover them later on.
I
personally own all the actual diecast pictured in these posts, however, all
packaging artwork, Mattel logos, Hot Wheels logos and wheel descriptions in
regard to the Hot Wheels versions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.
Ford
is a trademark of the Ford Motor Company.
[1]
Some casting references gathered from:
[2]
Real life car references gathered from:
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