Ford Mustang: A colourful history

Ford has kicked off the official countdown to its next-generation Mustang, which will be revealed later this year before it goes on sale in Australia in 2015, by outlining its colourful past.

Although it makes no mention of the all-new Mustang, which will be a global model built in left- and right-hand drive form for the first time, a recent press release outlines the changing paint colour tastes of Mustang buyers over the last 50 years.

The Mustang will celebrates its 50th birthday on April 17 next year and the lighter, more efficient new model is expected to make its global public debut at the Detroit motor show in January or the New York show in March – three weeks before it officially turns 50.

For now, the pre-reveal campaign focuses on the shift in colour preference of Mustang customers over the years, from green and blue in the 1960s to red and black today.

According to Ford, red has been consistently popular throughout Mustang’s history and is the top-seller overall, adorning about 21 percent of all Mustangs.

The past 50 years of Mustang have also brought eye-catching special-edition colours like the Mystichrome seen on the 2004 SVT Cobra, Playboy Pink and today’s Gotta Have It Green.

“As television transitioned from black-and-white to colour, Mustang reflected the incoming fashion trends with a palate of vibrant colours,” says Ford.

“In the five decades since, colour shifts to more muted browns and yellows and back to today’s bolder hues have given Mustang a different tint from many other cars.”

Today, the most popular vehicle colour in the US is white, but just 10 per cent of Mustangs sold are now white.

Black is currently the best-selling Mustang exterior paint colour -- up 10 per cent over the last decade to account for 28 per cent of all 2013 Mustangs sold.

By comparison, only about 1.5 per cent of customers between 1967 and 1973 went for black Mustangs, according to historical production data provided by Marti Auto Works, the licensed supplier of Ford Motor Company production records.

Of course, red has always been a popular colour for sports cars, and accounts for nearly 21 per cent of all Mustangs ever sold. Just over 10 per cent of total Mustangs sold in 1967 were red, and red Mustangs account for about 22 per cent of all Mustang sales over the last decade.

Blue has made a comeback recently, after dominating the early years of Mustang, reaching a peak of 30 per cent of all cars in 1968, when six different shades were offered. The availability of shades like Grabber Blue and Kona Blue helped the primary colour capture as much as 23 per cent of sales in recent years.

Other early favourites such as green, yellow and brown have largely faded away. Green and yellow were mostly found on limited-edition Mustangs like the Bullitt and Boss 302, while the last brown Mustang was built in 1989.

“Our Mustang owners are passionate about their cars, and the exterior paint colour they choose invokes an emotional response to the vehicle,” said Melanie Banker, Ford Mustang Marketing Manager. “Mustang owners buy a vehicle in School Bus Yellow or Grabber Blue because it reflects what they want their Mustang to say to the world about them.”

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