Ford Vehicles Named After Horses
Ford Mustang
You can’t put together a list of horse-named cars and not feature the Mustang — the longest-running production run of an original pony car in existence.
There are two theories on how the Mustang got its name:
Robert J. Eggert, Ford’s division market research manager in the early 1960s, loved American Quarterhorse breeds. His wife gifted him a book titled The Mustangs by J. Frank Dobie that inspired the pony car’s name.
Ford’s executive stylist at the time, Pres Harris, named the car after the WWII fighter aircrafts named Mustang.
Either way, the iconic galloping horse emblem adorned on each Mustang’s grille lands the pony car a spot on our list.
Ford Bronco
Of course, the ever-so popular Ford Bronco takes up space on this list.
When Ford was drawing plans for this four-wheel-drive SUV, the engineers, playing off the Mustang, called it the Bronco.
When the time came to finalize the name, “Wrangler” was thrown into the mix but Bronco stuck.
Ford Pinto
This infamous Ford subcompact, named “Pinto” after a horse that has large patches of white throughout its coat, was in production from 1971 to 1980.
In the commercial introducing the Pinto, Ford called it the “new little carefree car.” Carefree it was not — in rear-impact collisions, the gas tank filler neck could pull loose, spew gas, and burst into flames.
Retrofit kits could remedy the problem but the Pinto reputation was tarnished and the cars deemed worthless.
