The early production versions are often referred to as "1964½ models" but all Mustangs were advertised, VIN coded and titled by Ford as 1965 models.

The first Mustang rolled off the assembly line March 9, 1964 with a list price of $2,368.

Even Ford couldn't have predicted how successful the Mustang would be. On the opening day, 22,000 units were sold and dealerships were forced to take waiting lists. By the end of the year, Ford had sold more than 260,000 vehicles.

In the 1971 film, Diamonds are Forever, 007 finds himself surrounded by cop cars on the Las Vegas Strip. Ford wanted the Mustang Mach 1 to be the car that James Bond used to escape. They had seen the rise in sales from other car companies after their appearances in James Bond Films and wanted a piece of the action. They wanted it so bad that when a Mustang was destroyed while shooting the scene, Ford happily kept sending brand new ones to set.

The collector's market for vintage Ford Mustangs received an unexpected jolt in 2019 when a one-off 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake went for $2.2 million at a Florida auction, doubling pre-show estimates to become the most expensive Mustang ever sold.

The Mustang I made its formal debut at the United States Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, New York, on October 7, 1962, where test driver and contemporary Formula One race driver Dan Gurney lapped the track in a demonstration using the second "race" prototype. His lap times were only slightly off the pace of the F1 race cars.

The Ford Mustang, a two-seat, mid-engine sports car, was officially unveiled by Henry Ford II at the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York, on April 17, 1964. That same day, the new car also debuted in Ford showrooms across America.

To achieve an advertised list price of US$2,368, the Mustang was based heavily on familiar yet simple components, many of which were already in production for other Ford models. Many (if not most) of the interior, chassis, suspension, and drivetrain components were derived from those used on Ford's Falcon and Fairlane.

A special "Warriors in Pink" Mustang joined the lineup in 2007 to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure breast cancer research.

Mustangs have always been cool cars for movie heroes to drive, as Steve McQueen proved in the 1968 classic, roaring through the streets of San Francisco in a 1968 390 GT Fastback.