The Ford Mustang generated 22,000 sales orders on its first day of release in 1964. Ford unveiled the Mustang on April 17, 1964, at the New York World’s Fair, while dealers across the United States began taking orders.
The launch exceeded Ford’s expectations for a sporty compact car. The Mustang shared much of its underlying hardware with the Ford Falcon, helping keep development and production costs manageable. Buyers could choose a two-door hardtop or convertible at introduction; a fastback joined the range later that year.
Strictly speaking, contemporary accounts often describe the figure as 22,000 “orders” rather than completed deliveries. Trivia references commonly shorten that wording to 22,000 cars sold, which is why the figure is associated with the Mustang’s first release day. It is separate from Ford’s early sales forecast of 100,000 cars per year and from the much larger first-year sales total.