Mustang Club of Maryland

Don Frey, one of the chief executives at Ford who led the design and engineering team to develop the Ford Mustang has died from a stroke at age 87.

Don Frey along with Lee Iacocca were responsible for the the creation of the Ford Mustang. Don Frey joined Ford in 1950 and worked there until 1968. Life at Ford was always a challenge as Henry Ford 11 ran a Monarchy and there were many mass firings and job security was not always a long term guarantee.

He later moved onto General Cable and Bell & Howell where he also made tremendous contributions. He was influential in having the movie industry change over to use video tapes instead of reel film.

Don Frey worked at Ford during a time of tremendous changes in the auto industry. In the early 1960's, Frey led a small group of designers and engineers and was instrumental in utilizing many of the parts from the Ford Falcon to convince Henry Ford 11 to approve the Mustang.

Once the Mustang was a success, Frey was able to acquire additional funding to expand the product line and create the cultural icon we have been in love with for the past 45 years.

Frey and his team developed the Mustang from a styling concept to a full production model in the unheard of time of 18 months. Normally it would take 3-5 years to introduce a new model by Iacocca wanted the Mustang to debut at the 1964 World's Fair in New York and Frey and his team made that happen!

Frey succeeded Lee Iacocca as Ford's General Manager after his promotion to President of Ford.

Don Frey and Lee Iacocca were visionaries and real car guys.

RIP my friend and may your memory be for a blessing.

Midnight Blue
MCOM Historian

Hey Folks,

Below is the article from Auto Week announcing the passing of Don Frey.
This article drew a lot of positive comments on Don Frey's contributions from many Mustang owners.

Midnight Blue


Mustang cocreator Donald Frey dies
By DALE JEWETT
Donald Frey and Lee Iacocca are shown with key Ford products from the early 1960s--the 1960 Ford Falcon and the 1965 Ford Mustang.
Donald Frey and Lee Iacocca are shown with key Ford products from the early 1960s--the 1960 Ford Falcon and the 1965 Ford Mustang.

Donald Frey, a senior product planning manager at Ford Motor Co. in the 1960s who along with Hal Sperlich and Lee Iacocca developed the iconic Ford Mustang, died on March 5 in Evanston, Ill., from a stroke. He was 87 years old.

Frey led the team at Ford that set out to develop an affordable, sporty car in the early 1960s. But with Ford reeling from the Edsel flop, Frey couldn't get a standard budget for the project. So he piggybacked on other programs--borrowing the platform and instrument panel from the Ford Falcon--to create the Mustang. The program was created in just 18 months.

The original Mustang debuted on April 17, 1964, at the New York World's Fair. Managers expected to sell a bit less than 90,000 units the first year, but sales topped the 400,000 mark.

Frey was born in St. Louis, Mo., in 1923 and grew up in Iowa. He joined Ford in 1950. In addition to the Mustang, Frey was a key figure in Ford Motorsports. He succeeded Iacocca has head of the Ford Division and kept up Ford's participation in NASCAR and international racing at Le Mans. He is also credited with working on the original Ford Bronco.

He left Ford in 1968 to head General Cable Co., then became chairman and CEO of Bell & Howell in 1971. During his tenure he helped engineer the first CD-ROM. He also became a key player in getting Hollywood to release its films on videotape, thus creating the home-video entertainment industry.

Frey retired from Bell & Howell in 1988, and later worked as a research and professor at Northwestern University.

Shia Kapos of Crain's Chicago Business contributed to this report.

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