The Mustang Hall of Fame is to honor by public acknowledgement or commemoration,
those individuals that have merited recognition and distinction and who,
by their exploits, contributions and activities in regard to the Ford
Mustang and its heritage and culture, and who by their character and respectability
will serve as an inspiration and an example of the highest traditions
and whose reputations have withstood the test of time.
Alex Trotman, Inducted 1995
Ford Motor Company Group Vice president of North America from 1990-1993 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1993-1998. Mr. Trotman was the key sponsor who enabled the "skunkworks" team led by John Coletti to achieve approval for the 1994 SN95 (3rd generation) Mustang.
Art Hyde, Inducted 2002
Mustang Chief Program Engineer from February 1998 through April 2001. Art is an avid Mustang enthusiast since attending the 1964 World's Fair; he has served on the Mustang Club of America Board of Directors from 2000-2004 and was the Deputy Director of the 40th Anniversary event. He led the 1999 Cobra engine customer care program team that protected the brand when it was under fire due to a series of production issues. He created and delivered the 2001 Bullitt, 2002 Mach 1000 stereo and the 2003 Mach 1. Lastly, he led all aspects of the design and development of the 2005 S197 (5th generation) Mustang from the initial ideation phase through to program approval.
Bill Dillard, Inducted 2002
A charter member of Mustang Club of America, who has served several terms as President. Bill has been a valuable resource in establishing a continuing relationship with Ford Motor Company that has allowed MCA to grow. Bill took over the chair of the 35th Anniversary of Mustang at the time of Jim Osborn's passing.
Bob Tasca, Sr., Inducted 2003
Founder, Tasca Ford, Providence, Rhode Island. During the nineteen sixties Tasca Ford was synonymous with Ford Performance. Mr. Tasca coined the term, "Win on Sunday. Sell on Monday." He was the father of the Cobra Jet 428 and a key sponsor for the Boss 429. Over the decades, he effectively used his strong influence at Ford to keep the Mustang true to its heritage as it has progressed from the 2nd on through to the 5th generation vehicles.
Bunkie Knudsen, Inducted 1997
Mr. Knudsen became President of Ford Motor Company in 1968. While at Ford he was responsible for the fast Fords of the late 1960s. The Boss 302 and Boss 429 Mustangs are particular high points in era.
Carroll Shelby, Inducted 1996
Shelby a renowned sports car driver and team manager began his involvement with Ford Motor Company in 1962 by a Ford 260/289 engine in the AC, named the Cobra, it went on to win the FIA Manufacturers Grand Touring World Championship in 1965, the only American car company to ever do so.
The Shelby Mustangs of 1965 through 1970 were the products of Ford's great success with the Mustangs. The sporty looking sales sensation of 1964 didn't have much of a performance image. Ford asked Shelby to help them make the Mustang successful in racing. Soon there was a factory at the Los Angeles, California airport pumping out a couple of hundred GT350s a month. GT500s and other, now famous, Shelby Mustangs followed.
Perhaps Mr. Shelby's greatest achievement has been the establishment of the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation and its new British arm, the Shelby Transplantation Trust. Carroll Shelby has received both a heart and kidney transplant.
Donald Frey, Inducted 1998
Executive Engineer for all car programs during the time the 1964-1/2 Mustang was being developed. Don Frey was a key member of Lee Iaccoca's Fairlane Committee and directed all the engineering activities from initial feasibility through launch of the 1st generation Mustang. Later, Mr. Frey became Vice President of North American Product Development. In that role, he oversaw development of all Mustangs through 1973.
Gale L. Halderman
Inducted 2004
Ford Motor Company, Design Director. Mr. Halderman led the team that delivered the original Mustang theme through feasibility to production. Gale received the Industrial Design Society Design Award for design of the 1965 Mustang. He also designed the 1971 notch back and fastback Mustangs
Later, Mr. Halderman oversaw the design development of the 1979 Fox (3rd generation) Mustang to ensure it delivered the modern interpretation of the classic Mustang formula the Company planned.
Hal Sperlich, Inducted 1998
Ford Motor Company's Product Planning Chief during the 1964 1st generation Mustang's development and launch. Mr. Sperlich was a key member in Lee Iacocca's Fairlane Committee that won approval for the 1964 Mustang.
Jack Roush, Inducted 2002
Chairman, Roush Industries. Mr. Roush purchased his first Mustang in 1964, while working for Ford Motor Company. He has been involved with Mustangs in many avenues of motor sports beginning in drag racing, including NHRA. He later fielding teams for Ford in GTX, GTP, IMSA and Trans-Am. In 1989, Roush's Mustang driven by Dorsey Schroeder scored Ford's first Trans-Am title since 1970. Additionally, Mr. Roush?s company has worked closely with Team Mustang supporting development of all Mustangs between 1990 and 2004.
Roush Performance builds and markets several special edition Mustangs.
Janine Bay, Inducted 1999
Janine Bay was the Chief Program Engineer for Mustang, January 1997 through August 1998. She had previously been vehicle line director for Mustang since 1994 and was responsible for the 1999 SN95 freshening. Ms. Bay had led the team that developed the first SVT Mustang Cobra in 1993.
Jim Osborn, Inducted 1998
Jim Osborn was one of the founders of Mustang Club of America and one of the driving forces that made it successful.. Jim held almost every title in the club and was the "go to guy." Jim was chair of the 30th Anniversary of Mustang in 1994 and he was the chair of the 35th Anniversary event at the time of his untimely death.
Joe Oros, Inducted 1998
Ford Division Design Chief from the studio that created the initial clay model for the 1964-1/2 Mustang. Mr. Oros' striking (and now famous) design was a key element in securing the internal approval of the program. More importantly, his design was a key ingredient in the overwhelming success in the market that is now central to Mustang lore. The Mustang was the first automobile to win the Tiffany Gold Medal for excellence in American design. The inscription read, "Mustang has the look, the fire and flavor of one of the great European road cars. Yet it is as American as its name and as practical as its price."
Mr. Oros received the Industrial Design Society Design Award for design of the 1965 Mustang.
John Force, Inducted 2004
John's history with Ford and Mustang dates back to the 1970s. His first car was a Ford Fairlane into which he shoved a Ford Interceptor police special. When he finally went drag racing, one of the first cars he drove was Jack Chrisman's Mach 1 Funny Car.
In addition to the Mustangs he has driven to 50 NHRA tour victories, he has a 1965 that he keeps in his museum in Yorba Linda, Calif. John has exclusively driven Ford Mustangs sponsored by Castrol GTX since 1997. With the Mustang, he and his team have won eight consecutive NHRA championships.
Larry Dobbs, Inducted 2005
In early 1975, Larry Dobbs, then a display ad salesman for The Ledger daily newspaper in Lakeland, Florida, bought a well-worn 1965 Mustang convertible from a co-worker. The Mustang would start Larry down an entrepreneurial path that would take him into the world of automotive publishing.
After refurbishing the Mustang, Larry and his wife, Judy, drove the convertible to Atlanta, where they visited Stone Mountain Park. By sheer coincidence, the Mustang Club of America was holding its first-ever show at Stone Mountain, and Larry became enamored by the fact that people were making money by selling used but usable Mustang restoration parts. He returned home to Florida and began scouring local wrecking yards for Mustang parts. He named his new venture the Mustang Supply Company and began handing out mimeographed price lists.
As regular orders started coming in, Larry began looking for other ways to market his parts, which soon included reproductions of Mustang decals and owners manuals. Based on his experience with advertising at the local paper, he envisioned a monthly Mustang advertising newsletter containing only Mustangs and Mustang parts for sale or trade. In December 1977, Larry placed a full-page ad in Hemmings Motor News to announce the Mustang Exchange Letter. The first issue, published in January 1978, was mailed to 92 subscribers.
Less than a month later, after hearing a church sermon urging entrepreneurial young men to go for their dreams, Larry quit his job at The Ledger, talked a banker into a $5,000 second mortgage, and jumped into the Mustang world with both feet. A few months later, Larry heard about a similar publication, called the Super Ford Parts Exchange. Fearing confusion, Larry quickly changed the name of his publication to Mustang Monthly.
Mustang Monthly continued as primarily as an advertising vehicle until October 1979, when the magazine became a full-size publication with a color cover and editorial content. In the early 1980s, Mustang Publications was formed to publish both the magazine and books, including How to Restore Your Mustang, Mustang Recognition Guide, and Mustang Boss 302: Ford?s Trans-Am Ponycar. Larry didn?t realize it at the time, but he had created the first niche automotive publishing company.
During the 1980s, Mustang Monthly and the Mustang hobby, also fueled by the efforts of the Mustang Club of America, grew side by side. Mustang Monthly provided the latest Mustang news and restoration information, while growing Mustang parts companies were able to reach thousands of Mustang Monthly readers. Larry?s creation was helping to fuel the hobby.
Mustang Monthly?s growth during the decade was tremendous, helping to fund new magazines like Musclecar Review and acquisitions of magazines like Car Exchange and Super Ford. Mustang Publications was eventually renamed Dobbs Publishing Group, which found itself competing against big-name automotive publishers like Petersen Publishing and Argus Publishing. In fact, the larger publishers soon launched Mustang magazines of their own.
In 1999, Larry sold Dobbs Publishing Group to Petersen Publishing in a multi-million dollar deal. Mustang Monthly continues to spread the Mustang word as part of Primedia.
Today, Larry is semi-retired, operating a consulting business and teaching a ?Life Skills? Sunday School class.
Larry Shinoda, Inducted 1995
In 1968, Shinoda (designer of the Mako Shark Corvette concept car) followed then-Chevy General Manager Bunkie Knudsen to Ford. He took over design leadership of the 1969 Mustang in time to sponsor and create the Boss 302 and 429 Mustangs, perhaps two of the most famous Mustang models ever produced. He led the design team for the classic 1970-73 Mustangs.
Lee Iacocca, Inducted 1997
Lee Iaccoca led the Fairlane Committee, the end product of which was the 1964-1/2 Mustang. It was this project that put Iacocca on the international platform and gave the world a glimpse of Lee's business management style. His use of good marketing research data, his willingness to listen to people & his readiness in taking the risk of introducing a new product made him an endearing character. All his qualities combined to make the Mustang a success & he was soon being known as the Father of the Mustang.
O. John Coletti, Inducted 1995
John Coletti, Special Vehicle Engineering. Coletti is best known as team leader of the "skunkworks" effort that became the 1994 SN95 Mustang. The "secret group" breathed new life into one of the most legendary automotive nameplates of all time.
Coletti's team also developed noteworthy performance concept vehicles, including such past products as the Mach III, 10.0-liter BOSS Mustang, GT90, Mustang Super Stallion, 6.1-liter Mustang CJR and the Ford GT.
Robert Rewey, Inducted 1999
Mr. Rewey as General Manager of Ford Division, he was an advocate to reverse the decision to name the 1988 front wheel drive Probe "Mustang". Also as General Manager of Ford Division, he was a key internal sponsor for the 1994 SN95 (4th generation) Mustang. As Group Vice President of North American Sales, Bob was a strategic sponsor and mentor for the 2005 S197 (5th generation) Mustang.
Steve Saleen, Inducted 1996
Founder and President of Saleen, Inc. Saleen had been engineering, building and marketing special edition Mustangs since 1984. His cars have been raced in many different series and have won several championships. Mr. Saleen's company is now the highest volume niche Mustang manufacturer in the world and has gone on to develop and launch the ultra high performance S7 sportscar. Mr. Saleen is also a key partner with Ford in the Ford GT program.
Will Boddie, Inducted 1995
Will Boddie was Ford Motor Company's Director for Small & Mid-sized Cars during the launch of the SN-95 Mustang. In this role, Mr. Boddie lead the team that delivered the 1994 SN95 (3rd generation) Mustang.
William Clay Ford Jr., Inducted 1999
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Ford Motor Company. Mr. Ford's first car was a Mustang and he has been a Mustang fan ever since. Ford, Jr. notes, "Mustang has embodied the spirit of youthful freedom since it was first introduced in the 1960s. Sporty, affordable and fun, it established a new category of automobiles, the pony car. And for nearly four decades, the Mustang has dominated the category it created. Mustangs are much more than a machine to get you from Point A to Point B. People have an emotional connection whose impact goes far beyond the auto industry. Mustangs have really become part of our popular culture."
Alex Trotman, Inducted 1995
Art Hyde, Inducted 2002
Bill Dillard, Inducted 2002
Bob Tasca, Sr., Inducted 2003
Bunkie Knudsen, Inducted 1997
Carroll Shelby, Inducted 1996
Donald Frey, Inducted 1998
Gale L. Halderman
Inducted 2004
Hal Sperlich, Inducted 1998
Jack Roush, Inducted 2002
Janine Bay, Inducted 1999
Jim Osborn, Inducted 1998
Joe Oros, Inducted 1998
John Force, Inducted 2004
Larry Shinoda, Inducted 1995
Lee Iacocca, Inducted 1997
O. John Coletti, Inducted 1995
Robert Rewey, Inducted 1999
Steve Saleen, Inducted 1996
Will Boddie, Inducted 1995
William Clay Ford Jr., Inducted 1999
