Photo: YouTube/Jay Leno's Garage
In April 1964, Ford introduced the Mustang, and the world changed forever: the pony car would become one of the most iconic American automobiles of all time. However, Ford Motor Company was not easily able to compete with the Mustang's enormous success (22,000 orders were placed in the first 24 hours of its introduction). It introduced the car at one of the most influential automotive events in the world: the Indianapolis 500 race.
The first time in the 48-year tradition of the Indy 500 that race officials stopped the race entirely; the last win by a front-engined car; a devastating crash that killed two people and effectively eliminated gasoline as a fuel for the Indy 500; and the biggest showdown of FoMoCo’s all-new Mustang, in front of more than a quarter of a million spectators, in the form of the official safety car.
AJ Foyt won his second Indy 500 race in 1964 by a 90-second margin over the runner-up, beginning to etch his name into the pantheon of all-time greats. The superiority of the rear-engined cars was becoming apparent, and the '64 race would become the last triumph of a front-engined race car. Interestingly, Foyt managed such a clean race that he didn't even have to change tires and his car handled flawlessly.
Photo: YouTube/Jay Leno's Garage
Which is more than he could have said about a certain Ford Mustang he received as a reward from the manufacturer for his Indianapolis finish. The 1964 Indy 500 champion must have mistaken his Mustang for its track-day twin, the pace car that started the race, because he had it wrecked shortly thereafter. In fact, Ford built three Mustangs to serve as Indy 500 pace cars for 1964, but only one made it to 2024.
As Bill Ford, the current executive chairman of the eponymous automaker, recalls, the decision to race the Mustang in the Indy 500 in late May was made rather late, so drastic measures were taken. Three convertibles assembled in the first hour of Mustang production were rushed to North Carolina by Holman Moody for race tuning.
Now, why would the Mustang need any special preparation to go to Indy? Because the rules required the safety car to be capable of reaching and maintaining at least 140 mph (225 km/h), and the Mustang’s 289-cubic-inch V8 (the famous 4.7-liter) wasn’t up to the task. However, the wrench-wielding gremlins at Ford’s Total Performance (led by Carroll Shelby) were already making waves with the Ford GT40, a car built with the sole purpose of beating Ferrari at Le Mans.
Photo: YouTube/Jay Leno's Garage
The GT40 version of the 289 made about 450 horsepower, so the Indy 500 pacer was quickly armed with it. With about 95 horsepower per liter, the two-valve-per-cylinder small-block V8 would have been virtually impossible to drive anywhere but on the track.
The 3,396 miles (5,465 kilometers) recorded on the odometer are a testament to this claim. A fun fact about this Mustang is that it could reach a top speed that exceeded the actual speedometer reading by 20 mph. The Mustang's dashboard instrument read 120 mph.
Borg Warner had to develop a new four-speed transmission for the special Mustang. Holman Moody did just about everything he could think of to keep the car pristine. The standard Mustang chassis wasn’t designed for the kind of power that would come years later with the 1967 427 Side Oiler V8, the 1968 Cobra Jet, and the 1969 Boss 429.
Photo: YouTube/Jay Leno's Garage
In '64, however, Ford chose to put a race engine in the pace car to clear the bar for the Indy 500, and Benson Ford (Henry II's younger brother) drove the car. You can play the second video and watch the Mustang on the parade lap in front of the 33 race cars. His grandson, Bill Ford, recalls the historic moment standing next to the iconic 1964 pace car.
In total, Ford has built 35 convertible Mustangs as race car replicas, but this isn’t one of them. It’s the real, actual car that raced on the track on Memorial Day in 1964. Bill Ford owns it, and he shares some details about one of the most iconic Mustangs of all with Jay Leno.
Built on the historic first day of regular Mustang production, Monday, March 9, 1964, it is the most powerful 1964 Ford Mustang ever produced. Holman-Moody modeled the 289 V8 after the GT40 racing program, adding forged pistons, modified heads, a special exhaust, fat 7.75-inch Firestone 500 tires, Koni shock absorbers on the lowered suspension, and an oversized radiator.
Photo: YouTube/Jay Leno's Garage
After completing the Indy 500, the pace car did the same honors at the 24 Hours of Sebring that year. Ford then gifted it to the same Florida circuit for official use. It served its purpose for a full decade, but was put into storage in 1974.
Nearly two decades later, an official from the Mustang Club of America heard about it and bought it. He then restored the car to perfection, transforming it into the jewel we see today: play the first video to hear the detailed story told by Ford himself.
