Mustang

When the Simplex company totally changed the design of the machines it built in New Orleans in 1960, they were obviously adopting a style of small motorcycle created by Mustang in Glendale, California, in 1945. The original Mustang was designed as a compact, cost-effective alternative to the limited selection of small bikes available immediately after World War II. Simplex was building tall, skinny motorbikes, Cushman was building scooters, and the Hummer was still several years away.

The original Mustang design employed a 125cc British Villiers two-stroke, but this was replaced in 1947 with a 320cc, single-cylinder, side-valve engine in a triangular, hardtail frame with twelve-inch wheels. All Mustangs used a British-built gearbox and the footshift was on the right side. A sprung, solo seat and painted handlebars were standard. There was very little chrome on any Mustang. The entry level Mustang was the 9.5 horsepower Pony with disc wheels, three-speed transmission, and a rear brake only. The Bronco model added another horsepower, wire wheels and a front brake, and the Stallion added a four-speed and a little more deluxe trim to a 12.5-horsepower engine. All of these solo hardtails changed very little up through the cease of production in 1963. The company also built a three-wheeled utility model and a trail model with a tractor-tread rear tire design!

The 1964 Thoroughbred pictured here was the top of the Mustang line. All Mustang production halted in 1963, but the inventory was continued until sold out in 1965, not coincidentally the same year the You Meet the Nicest People company first sold more motorcycles than all other brands combined! The Thoroughbred had an all-new frame featuring a dual seat and conventional rear shocks. The engine and transmission were the same as on the Stallion. The model shown has the optional passenger footpegs, chrome crash bars, and leather saddlebags.

Mustang represents one of those last gasps from an American brand in the tiddler market. The Cushman Eagle would be gone in another couple of years. So would the H-D Hummer and all its direct descendants. The Mustang may have been primitive and clunky, but at least it is intersting in retrospect for its American entrepreneurship.

See Also: The Mustang Club