April 17, 1964: The Ford Motor Company introduces the Ford Mustang, which began as a little sports car.
It was designed by John Najjar, who also named it, because he was a fan of a fighter plane from World War II, the P-51 Mustang. The introduction of the car was made by the Ford division's chairman, who would become better known later as the chairman of the Chrysler Corporation: Lee Iacocca. He approved the name, over the objection of Henry Ford II, chairman of the company, and grandson and namesake of the company's founder.
In 1969, Iacocca also introduced the Lincoln Continental Mark III, one of the greatest luxury cars in American history. Unfortunately, in 1971, he also introduced the Ford Pinto, the name chosen as a smaller version of the Mustang. But while the Mustang exploded into American consciousness, the Pinto had a habit of simply exploding.
The Mustang was introduced 16 days after Chrysler introduced the Plymouth Barracuda. But it outsold the 'Cuda, selling 400,000 in a little over 8 months in 1964, and mover 2 million by its 2nd anniversary. Competitors soon abounded. In 1967, General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird. In 1968, American Motors introduced the AMC Javelin. In 1969, Chrysler introduced the Dodge Challenger. By 1968, to compete with these, the Mustang was built bigger, as a "muscle car."
The Mustang caught on immediately: In 1964, one appeared in the film The Troops of St. Tropez, and later in the James Bond film Goldfinger, both proving that the car was popular in Europe as well as in America. In 1965, Wilson Pickett had a hit with the R&B song "Mustang Sally." The same year, in the TV series The F.B.I., Efrem Zimbalist Jr. drove a Mustang as Inspector Lewis Erskine. In the 1968 film Bullitt, Steve McQueen drove one on the streets of San Francisco, in one of the great car chases in movie history.
Like the Chevrolet Corvette, its rival for the title of America's greatest sports car, it is still produced today, and is an American automotive legend.
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April 17, 1964 was a Friday. A full slate of games was played in Major League Baseball that day:
* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. This was the 1st game ever played at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadow, Queens, which would remain the Mets' home through the 2008 season. I have a separate entry for that event.
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Russ Snyder won the game with a single off Pete Mikkelsen in the bottom of the 11th inning. Mickey Mantle went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3, but drew 2 walks.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Tony Conigliaro, just 19 years old and from nearby Lynn, Massachusetts, made his major league debut the day before, and hit a home run in this game. But Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3.
This was the White Sox' 1st away game of the season. It marked the debut of their new road uniforms, the 1st of many bad uniform choices they've made. It was the 1st time a Major League Baseball team wore powder blue uniforms on the road. The addition of uniform numbers on the sleeves, however, were an assist for television viewers.
* The Washington Senators beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in 1969.)
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Athletics, 6-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 for the Tigers.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Rookie Richie Allen (not yet "Dick") went 3-for-5 with a 2-run home run. The Cubs got home runs from Billy Williams (2 of them), Ron Santo, Billy Cowan and Lou Brock (soon to be traded), but it wasn't enough. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Houston Colt .45s, 5-2 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The Braves won despite Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews going a combined 0-for-8. The next season, the Colts would move into the Astrodome, and change their name to the Houston Astros.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with a 3-run home run.
Football was out of season. The NBA Finals would start the next day, and the Boston Celtics would beat the San Francisco Warriors in 5 games. And it was an off-day in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Detroit Red Wings led the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2 games to 1. But the Leafs would win in 7 games, for their 3rd straight Cup.
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