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UNBRIDLED: The Passion, performance & politics behind america’s favorite pony car
Please scroll down to read synopses of each of UNBRIDLED’s chapters and view samples of its breathtaking photography. Rest assured, this hardcover first-edition (author Robert M. Kennedy’s first book) will not disappoint. Personally signed and shipped by Mr. Kennedy, UNBRIDLED is likely to stand out as a favorite among any reader’s collection - and prove quite collectible as well!
Beginning with Henry Ford’s Quadricycle and his first failed companies, GESTATION chronicles the world-changing success of Model T, WWI, the global pandemic of 1918, Model A and the Great Depression, WWII, the ‘49 Ford, Thunderbird, and the creation of Roy Lunn’s original Mustang I concept car. This opening chapter of UNBRIDLED tells the amazing story of FoMoCo’s transformation from cash-strapped start-up into the manufacturing behemoth that will soon defeat Ferrari at Le Mans - and produce a new “youth market car” that will transcend its existence as a mere niche automobile, and go down in history as one of the most successful product offerings of all time.
(VERY) SPECIAL FALCON details how Lee Iacocca successfully lobbied Henry Ford II to greenlight Hal Sperlich’s idea, and how Gale Halderman’s front-engine “Cougar” proposal was rebadged with the same name as a two-year-old V4-powered mid-engine concept car. It explains the bad blood and hyper-competitive environment that fueled a high-octane war on the streets of Detroit, and blurred the segment line that (only briefly) separated GTO’s muscle car market and Mustang’s pony car class. Its “Special Editions & Racing” sub-chapter celebrates how a chicken farmer from Texas used snake venom to transform a mule into a racehorse. And it reflects on how and why (60 years later) this trendsetting automobile remains revered as a symbol of youth, optimism, rebellion, freedom - and America itself.
THE RIGHT CAR AT THE RIGHT TIME sheds an entirely new light on the true story of how Ford’s decision to downsize the Mustang for 1974 resulted in a Motor Trend ‘Car of the Year’ award and its best sales since 1967 - even as enthusiasts cried “blasphemy!” This third chapter dispels decades of rumors and half-truths regarding the pint-size pony car’s relationship with the ill-fated Pinto. It details not only how the Federal Government impacted the look and performance of these cars - but also how politicians in Washington managed to cut short the lifecycle of these commercially successful (yet controversial) mini-stangs. It explains why these misunderstood mares have recently been acknowledged by Hagerty as the fastest-appreciating Mustangs on the market and how, without them, we’d likely never have enjoyed the opportunity to slip behind the wheel of any SVO, SVT, or Dark Horse.
THE FOX details the incredible story of how and why the Blue Oval abandoned the grille pony, tri-bar taillamps, and virtually all other design cues that had previously defined Mustang - and produced a vehicle that more closely resembled the wedge-shaped sports cars of Europe. It lays out, in great detail, how and why engineers tried to replace Mustang’s V8 heartbeat with turbocharged four-cylinders as eight-cylinder performance hit rock bottom; how the marque survived a well-intentioned (but completely misguided) attempt to apply its name to a front-wheel-drive Japanese chassis; and how (having been forced into production longer than expected) the refreshed 5.0-powered Mustang LX, GT, and Cobra ultimately came to be regarded as modern classics.
IT IS WHAT IT WAS AND MORE tells the tale of one of the most unlikely comebacks in history. This fifth chapter recounts the parallels between Lee Iacocca’s Fairlane Committee and John Coletti’s Skunkworks, how a member of the Muccioli family helped save Mustang for the second time in two decades, and how Bud Magaldi managed to breathe new life into Mustang’s 30-year-old styling cues using Jack Telnack’s 15-year-old Fox platform. It discusses how the California Air Resources Board prompted Ford to put its long-lived small-block out to pasture, how 2001’s Bullitt GT reignited the Mach 1, and how (even as its new 4.6L V8s struggled to keep pace with GM’s 5.7L mills on the street) Roush, Saleen, Steeda, and Ford’s own Cobra R Mustangs dominated road courses - while John Force saddled up and raced Mustang to a record-breaking winning streak in NHRA drag racing.
RETRO REBOOT celebrates the blending of vintage style and modern engineering as, after a quarter-century of Fox-platform production, Ford unveiled its first totally new Mustang since 1979. Tracing the S197’s development and production from J Mays’ “Retro-futurism” design and Art Hyde’s planned independent suspension, through Hau Thai-Tang overseeing the car’s launch with a solid axle, and its reincorporation of larger displacement engines and long-dormant nameplates like GT350, GT500, Boss 302, and even the California and Twister Specials - as old rivals returned and fired shots in a new horsepower war! And finally, its “Old Horse, New Tricks” sub-chapter introduces new names like Vaughn Gittin Jr and Ken Block to the ever-growing list of iconic names associated with Mustang’s on-going success.
GLOBAL DOMINATION examines the overwhelming success of Alan Mulally’s “One Ford” doctrine as Dave Pericak’s team opened Mustang’s North American corral and allowed it to gallop freely across the globe, outselling Porsche’s 911 on its home turf in Germany, and becoming the best-selling sports coupe in the world year, after year, after year. This seventh chapter breaks down how independent suspensions and EcoBoost powerplants elevated this award-winning steed’s temperament from resembling a rowdy colt to that of a well-trained Lipizzaner Stallion. And it laments how flat-plane Voodoo and supercharged Predator engines backed-up the Coyote, propelling Ford’s sixth-generation pony car to previously unimaginable levels of performance - only to have its sales hit a wall as the COVID-19 pandemic crippled supply chains and brought the industry to its knees.
Finally, GALLOPING INTO AN ELECTRIFIED FUTURE takes a fair and open-minded approach to assessing the situation in which Ford’s sixty-year-old quarter horse now finds itself. Weighing how C.A.R.B. and the United Nations are leading the charge toward full electrification of the automotive industry, against the push-back from traditional Mustang enthusiasts over the Mach-E (even as it earned high praise, multiple awards, and strong sales), this final chapter applauds Ed Krenz and Team Mustang for their efforts in developing what promises to be the best Mustang ever produced. And, having analyzed Mustang’s past, UNBRIDLED’s epilogue makes its case for how Mustang can not only survive - but thrive - as it gallops into an electrified future!
