Yahoo Autos Ford believes the mystery mid-engine Mustang is a Mach 2 prototype after all
Well that didn't take long. In the same week that we found out that Ford archivists found images of a mysterious mid-engine sports car based on the 1966 Ford Mustang, they believe they've found the answer. First reported by Jalopnik, and confirmed to us by Ford Archives and Brand Manager Ted Ryan, the car seems to be a prototype of the 1967 Ford Mach 2 mid-engine concept.
Ryan told us that his reference archivist Jamie Myler was assigned the case, and that Myler suspected it was the Mach 2, despite the Mustang stampings still evident on the sides and the back of the car. He got in touch with Jim Farrell, a man writing a book on the Lincoln Continental, who currently has access to Ford's collection of S-negative photos. These photographs document projects and work at Ford from the 1950s to the 1990s, and while the photos survive, the original index for the photos was destroyed in a flood. Fortunately, Ryan said that as long as they have a date, they can usually identify a vehicle since the photos all have numbers displayed, and the numbers are chronological. The dates for the Mach 2 and this prototype line up closely.
Ryan said Farrell was also able to get in touch with former Ford designers, and one of them, Bud Magaldi wrote Ryan saying that it was indeed the Mach 2. And Magaldi is to be believed because he was working on the project himself. Apparently at the time, it was a secret project being done in the basement of the design studio.