Celebrating the Spirit of the Open Road: The Ford Mustang Turns 60

The History Factory Podcast

Join us on the open road to celebrate the Ford Mustang’s 60th birthday with Ted Ryan, Ford’s archives and heritage brand manager. He and History Factory CEO Jason Dressel discuss the iconic vehicle’s seven generations and its impact on pop culture—including its appearance in more than 8,000 movies and videos—and the most popular models today. Ryan talks about the transformation of the Mustang model, still one of the most popular sports coupes in the world, and its underlying design thinking over the decades. He also shares some stories from Ford’s archives, the Ford Heritage Vault, which has seen 30 million searches and 7.7 million downloads since its launch. Show Notes: As the archives and heritage brand manager for Ford Motor Company, Ted Ryan “has the coolest job,” a comment he often gets when people meet him for the first time and find out what he does for a living. His response is, “Indeed, I do!” In his role overseeing Ford’s archives, Ryan tells stories about the company’s rich heritage to internal and external audiences. While he is not a car collector, his father is and owns a 1931 Model A, a 1940 Lincoln Zephyr Continental Cabriolet, a 1957 Continental Mark II and a 2002 Thunderbird. Two of Ryan’s favorite photos are of him with his father and 1966 Mustang and of him with his three sons with his 2020 Mustang. Ford cars are in his blood.