I was with Gerry on his answer. See attached article from his daughter. But maybe this is not acurate.
MUSTANG MONTHLY News & Views
Mustang's Original Running-Horse Emblem - Pony Marker
Designer Phil Clark Is Credited With Sketching The Famous Mustang Running Horse
Holly Clark
August 1, 2005
Editor's note: The author is the only child of Phil Clark, the man who sketched the Mustang's original running-horse emblem. She, like the Mustang, celebrated her 40th birthday in 2004. Holly can be reached at
[email protected].
It's a symbol adored by great men, desired by many, and recognized by almost everyone. The running pony has endured not only Vietnam, but also disco, the fall of Communism, and even the new millennium. It's still the quintessential symbol of the original ponycar. Regardless of the Mustang's fame, most don't know the story of the man who hand-sketched the running horse and whose mind captured the spirit of the Mustang.
My father, Phillip Thomas Clark, was only 27 in 1962 when he left General Motors to join Ford Motor Company. Ford's leadership promised to consider Clark's concept of a car that would not only be a means of transportation for the average American, but would also thrust its owner into the world of sports cars.
The "pony" came only after Clark and his associates at Ford spent nearly 100 arduous days working and reworking renderings of the final original design for the car now known as Mustang I.
My father had always been known for sketching animals. He sometimes even made amusing drawings on napkins as he lunched in Dearborn cafes. His wife, Marilyn, speaks even now of the pony's significance to her husband.
That uniqueness plays through even in Clark's artwork of the horse that gallops on the grille. In a popular board game, players are asked why the horse on the Mustang gallops to the left and not to the right. J Mays, Ford's group vice president of Design, said that Bill Ford requested research concerning Clark's work on the Mustang. Mays said, "Interestingly, I am informed that the reason the horse is galloping toward the left is because Clark was right-handed and it was more natural for him to draw the horse galloping to the left."
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