Business

How Ford created the most iconic sports car

15 Aug 2023 • 2 min read

How Ford created the most iconic sports car by focusing on what the market wanted – not what they could offer.

By the 1960s, the sports car market in the US was booming. At least for enthusiasts, the rich, and the enthusiastic rich.

There wasn’t anything that the growing middle class could afford. But this was something they all longed for, and the demand was there.

Make the best possible car you can make. Throw some margin on top. Sell it.

But that drove the price too high.

Ford, however, approached it differently.

First, they conducted research about how much money their middle-class American ICP was willing to pay for a sports car. It was around $2500.

Then, secondly, they wholly revamped the idea of a “sportscar”.

What’s the value of it?

What they discovered was surprising.

The thing people craved was not sports car performance – requiring a costly engine, drive train, and suspension.

But the cheap stuff.

The sports car excitement. Styling. Bucket seats, vinyl trim and fancy wheel covers.

No one at the time was selling that sort of thing at a price customers could afford.

Now Ford knew what the customers wanted. And what they were willing to pay for it.

And this is exactly what they built.

They took the parts from regular family vehicles like the Ford Falcon.

Real enthusiasts and manufacturers ridiculed it.

But it 100% looked the part, and this is what the people wanted. And it was cheap.

So it was an instant hit.

When it launched in 1964, the net profits from the car in that same year were already 1.1 billion in 1964 dollars.

That was far more than any of Ford’s competitors made selling their “good” sports cars.

So sometimes, it pays off to take a step back and dig into what the people really want and how much they are willing to pay for it.

But will you?

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