Conceived by Ford product manager Donald N. Frey and championed by Ford Division general manager Lee Iacocca, the Mustang prototype was a two-seat, mid-engined roadster. This would later be remodeled as a four-seat car penned by David Ash and John Oros in Ford's Lincoln–Mercury Division design studios, which produced the winning design in an intramural design contest instigated by Iacocca.

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Lee Iacocca, who became president of the Ford Motor Company in December of 1970, ordered a smaller Mustang for 1974. Initially it was to be based on the Ford Maverick, a compact car similar in size and power to the Falcon, the basis for the original Mustang. In the event the smaller 1974 Mustang II was based on the Ford Pinto subcompact.

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The 1979 Mustang was based on the larger Fox platform (initially developed for the 1978 Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr). The interior was restyled to accommodate four people in comfort despite a smaller rear seat. The trunk was larger, as was the engine bay, for easier service access.

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In 1994 the Mustang underwent its first major redesign in 15 years. Code named "SN-95" by Ford, it was based on an updated version of the rear-wheel drive Fox platform called "Fox-4." The new styling by Patrick Schiavone incorporated several styling cues from earlier Mustangs. For the first time a notchback coupé model was unavailable. In 1994 Motor Trend magazine named the new Mustang Car of the Year for the third time.

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At the 2004 North American International Auto Show, Ford introduced a completely redesigned Mustang codenamed "S-197" and based on an all-new D2C platform for the 2005 model year. Developed under the direction of Chief Engineer Hau Thai-Tang and exterior styling designer Sid Ramnarace, the fifth-generation Mustang's styling echoes Mustangs of the 1960s, notably the 1969-70 models. Ford's senior vice president of design, J Mays, called it "retro-futurism."

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Forum for 2010 Ford Mustang redesign discussion. Find news and information on the 2010 Ford Mustang V6 and GT models.

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While the Mustang's evolution into a performance car was not foreseen at the outset, Ford has catered to individuals looking for more performance. Early higher-performance variants included the Boss 302 and the Mach 1. High performance vehicles fell out of favor during the fuel crisis of the 1970s, but Ford made them again in later years—for example the SVO, and the SVT Cobra.

For many years third-party vendors and independent car designers have modified Mustangs, and names such as Shelby, Roush and Saleen are closely associated with Mustang performance parts and customizing.

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