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As such, it is only one of the new generation of sports cars coming out of Detroit. The new breed traces its heritage to such European products as the Austin-Healey, the Triumph and the MG, which first whetted the appetites of many Americans for the sports car —though they were out of reach for most Americans. Out of this appetite came the inspiration for such American cars as the Thunderbird and the Corvette, whose price still hovers between $4,000 and $5,000, and for the sporty extras—bucket seats, stick shifts, wire wheels—best embodied in General Motors' jazzy Corvair Monza.
With the Mustang, Ford clearly has a big lead among the new breed. But the market for an inexpensive sports car is potentially so enormous—particularly since nearly one in every five households now shops for a second car —that Ford's competitors have no intention of leaving it to Lee Iacocca. Chrysler has already introduced a Valiant with a convex rear roofline—called a fastback in Detroit—and named it the Barracuda. American Motors is making a fastback version of its Rambler Classic, will bring it out next spring. When word of the Mustang first leaked out, General Motors began to work on a fastback Corvair for introduction this month, later decided against the crash approach, and now maintains a monolithic silence. Its Chevrolet Corvette is too expensive to compete with the Mustang, and its rear-engined, lightly powered Monza might be thrown off balance by the weight of a bigger motor out back; this also applies to the experimental Monza GT. Result: G.M.'s competitor for the Mustang, Detroit believes, may be built around the front-engined Chevy II. Ready to take full advantage of his lead, Lee Iacocca at first projected 200,000 sales for the Mustang, but now is talking in the vicinity of 400,000—a feat that could increase Ford's total sales by $400 million.
Talk of 10 Million. The climate for the new sports cars could hardly be better. After two 7,000,000-plus auto years in a row, the industry in 1964 is not only moving irresistibly toward a new record, but is almost certain to break through a plateau that seemed practically unattainable only a few years ago. Even before the tax cut, Detroit was headed for at least an 8,000,000-car year. With the cut—and the continued health of the U.S. economy— it is now debating whether it will be held to 8,200,000 sales (including 400,000 imports) or go on to 8,500,000. Auto sales in the first quarter were the highest in history, rising 7% over last year and 4% over record 1955. Automen no longer consider what is happening in the industry a boom; taking into account a steadily growing population, the growth of multicar families and the steady spread of suburbia, they feel that the industry has reached an era in which 8,000,000 sales will be a normal year. Some automen are already talking about 10 million a year.
Among the automakers, General Motors is still the undisputed leader, with more than half the market and a sales increase in the first quarter of 6%.