Ford created a mid-engine Mustang, but forgot about it

As hard as it may be to believe, Ford was building a mid-engine Mustang in 1966.

The only evidence of this is four photographs discovered by Dean Weber about five years ago when he was Ford's official archivist.

Weber, now retired, originally thought the car might have been the Mustang Mach 2 concept car unveiled by Ford at the 1967 Chicago Auto Show. However, that theory was refuted by industry historian Wayne Ference. In a 2016 interview about the Mach 2 concept's origins, he described a design that contradicted the structure shown in photos of the enigmatic mid-engine Mustang.

Unfortunately, Weber's old contacts at Ford were not much help either. He initially turned to Mustang historian John Clore and Mustang veteran marketing and PR specialist John Clinard for information about the car. One of Clinard's acquaintances named Ford International Studios in Dearborn, Michigan as the location for the photo shoot, but neither had seen or heard of the car

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Criner speculated that the car might be related to one of the concepts developed by Ford designer Eugene Bordina in the 1960s, and contacted former Ford designers Hal Sperlich, Gale Halderman, and Jack Telnack. They were contacted and asked if any of them could identify this car.

Sperlich, who had been involved in the development of the first Mustang, suggested that it might be a ride-on version of research cars designed as "Mustang toys" such as the 1962 Ford Mustang I concept, which had a mid-engine design, but no one could answer. However, Halderman ruled out this possibility because these cars were built in the early 1960s, before the Mustang, and the mystery car was clearly based on a production Mustang body.

Halderman's final suggestion was to approach Roy Lunn. He had overseen a number of mid-engine projects at Ford, including the aforementioned Mustang I and the legendary GT40, and was known as the "Godfather of the GT40" for his involvement. Unfortunately, Lunn was also unable to identify the car pictured.

Ford is now hoping that some of its fans can help identify the mysterious mid-engine Mustang. Anyone with information can contact [email protected].