A Faster Horse

“A Faster Horse”  is a documentary available on Netflix that takes viewers behind the scenes into the stressful and artistic world of car design. Never before were cameras allowed into the inner design rooms at the Dearborn, Michigan Ford facility where all the Mustangs have been created since the very first one. This inside look takes us through the evolution of the Mustang. The piece sets up as a retrospective for the Mustangs 50th birthday, but also focuses on the 2009 automotive downturn in the US.

After watching the film, I definitely came to a new understanding of Mustang history and its engineering. Despite all the outside pressures, in 2014 – Ford made a crucial jump and decided it was time to redesign their crown jewel – from the ground up. But for me, one of my biggest misconceptions around the Mustang was the number of “redesigns” there have been. The Ford team explains that there have only been 6 generations (including the current platform) put into production. The year-to-year changes, especially in the early generations were just face lifts on the same platform.

• 1962-63 (prototypes)
• 1964-1973; Gen 1
• 1974-78; Gen 2
• 1979-93; Gen 3
• 1994-2004; Gen 4
• 2005-2014; Gen 5
• and 2015+ (current); Gen 6

I was also surprised to find out that more than 9-million Mustangs have been sold in over 50 years; and for a two-door sports car, that’s is a respectable metric.

The film does a great job and blending in archived footage from Fords history including interviews with Lee Iacocca, Carol Shelby and Henry Ford II. But more importantly it sets up interviews with key designers and engineers who have worked on the Mustang line through its 50 year run, including the original designers.

Watching the teams work on the 2015+ platform was insightful and educational. Some of their arguments and outcomes during meetings and in testing were enlightening. It was great to see this process from an insider view and shed new light on how cars are built today. For me, it answered some looming engineering questions … especially those I’ve always expressed – usually in frustration: “if only they’d spent an extra 10-cents!!!” — If you’d like to learn more about Automotive Engineering and the Mustangs journey, be sure to check out this film. Enjoy!