The Logo

[SMUnick]

I was at an orientation this past week, and the leaders of the group told us many stories about the campus and history etc... Is it true that Ford (The auto company) made and named the car after our logo>>??

[MrMustang1965]

This is one of the many stories of SMU football legend and lore. The only person who could truly confirm this would be Lee Iacocca, if you ever get the chance to ask him.

Did they tell you HOW it happened?

[SmooPower]

"I am probably telling you something you already know but you might want to remind your readers that the SMU Mustangs were the inspiration for the classic Ford vehicle of the same name.

"The way I remember it, Lee Iacocca designed the car and was still searching for a moniker when he attended the 1963 SMU-Michigan football game in Ann Arbor. As was often the case, Hayden Fry's team was outmanned but put up a battle before falling to the Wolverines 27-16. Iacocca, inspired by the Ponies' fiesty play, dubbed his vehicle the Mustang. I've heard that "Flatop" Fry received one of the first of those vehicles to roll off the assembly line.

"Just as a side note, a couple of weeks later the Ponies beat Roger Staubach and #4 ranked Navy 32-28 in a thriller. After the season, Fry somehow talked the Sun Bowl into extending an invitation to his team to play in that game even though SMU had won only four of ten games (the Mustangs' performance against four highly ranked bowl-bound opponents (Navy, Air Force, Baylor and #1 Texas was cited as the reason). There, they lost to Oregon 21-14."

[Dutch]

but was Lee using the real pony or the phony pony?

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

but was Lee using the real pony or the phony pony?

I know you are making an attempt at humor, but it is our logo and a trademark and it should be enforced properly or we might as well not even have a logo.

I'm sure the people at Notre Dame wouldn't care if a different leprechaun started showing up on merchandise, or the people at Nebraska wouldn't care if somebody made up a different Herbie Husker and put it on a sweatshirt.

I'm sure if one of your cooks decided to start making the patties a bit smaller or cooking the cottage fries 30 seconds shorter it would be just fine - because the only people who would notice are the people who come in all the time...

The funny thing is we didn't start using our current Mustang logo until what, 1977 or 1978? We certainly had to make it different than the Ford trademark, which is why ours is different and also the main reason ours always goes right and theirs always goes left.

Then, at some point in the 90s, all control over our logo was lost, and a logo close to the Ford logo started showing up on SMU gear - so all of that gear is actually probably in some sort of trademark violation anyway.

[bubba pony]

Several years ago I heard an interview with Hayden Fry where he explains that the Ford Mustang is named after SMU's Mustang. I can’t find that interview itself but I did find this excerpt from Hayden Fry's book where he confirms the story:


http://wesleyvaclav.blogspot.com/2009_0 ... chive.html

When I got home, I checked the book, "Hayden Fry--A High Porch Picnic." that was co-authored by Fry and George Wine, the former sports information director at Iowa.

In the book, Fry writes about SMU opening the 1963 season with a 27-16 loss at Michigan. Ironically, the Wolverines were then coached by Bump Elliott, who later was the athletic director at Iowa when Fry was hired there.

After SMU's loss at Michigan, Fry writes in the book, "I was talking to my team in our dressing room when one of my managers interrupted to say there were some men from the Ford Motor Company outside who wanted to see me. He said they were persistent. So I went through the door and met Lee Iacocca, Ford's CEO, and some of his aides. He said he had an important announcement for my football team and asked to come in.

"He climbed on top of a training table--he's a big man, so he really towered over the group--and told the team that Ford was about to introduce a new sports car that was small, sleek and fast, with great acceleration and maneuverability. He said that several names for the car were under consideration--among them Cougar, Bronco, Cheetah and Colt.

"But today, after watching the SMU Mustangs play with such flair, we reached a decision," he announced. "We will call the new car the Mustang. But it will be light, like your team. It will be quick, like your team. And it will be sporty, like your team." He said we shuold be proud that Ford had selected the SMU nickname.

"My players were proud and happy with Iacocca's decision. His announcement was a real mood elevator after after the loss to Michigan. It was a great tribute to the SMU players that of all the names he could have picked for the new sports car, he chose ours. When Ford began producing Mustangs, I received one of the first to come off the assembly line. And, of course, we had it painted in SMU colors--red, white and blue..."

[MrMustang1965]

And no one cares about SMU's true colors, either. Harvard Crimson and Yale Blue.

[couch 'em]

At least using different colors is a matter of style. The phony pony is just plain distorted looking. The proportions are wrong.

[NavyCrimson]

Dan FreibergerforHeisman: "The funny thing is we didn't start using our current Mustang logo until what, 1977 or 1978? We certainly had to make it different than the Ford trademark, which is why ours is different and also the main reason ours always goes right and theirs always goes left."

From what I heard back in the 70's if not earlier, Coach Fry went to Ford asking to use the 'Mustang' logo & the agreement (between the two) was the direction of the mustang - we to the right & Ford to the left. We didn't use any logos on our helmets during the '67 season in anticipation of an updated one which is what it is today - the 'running mustang'. From '68 to the '73 season (until Dave Smith's arrival) we used the 'running mustang' on the red helmets. Then during the Smith era, we used those ridiculous silver Ohio State modified helmets. Yuck!!! Then started the 'white helmet' era when Myer arrived for '77.

However, the 'standing' mustang from '66 & before was truly a classic!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

From what I heard back in the 70's if not earlier, Coach Fry went to Ford asking to use the 'Mustang' logo & the agreement (between the two) was the direction of the mustang - we to the right & Ford to the left. We didn't use any logos on our helmets during the '67 season in anticipation of an updated one which is what it is today - the 'running mustang'. From '68 to the '73 season (until Dave Smith's arrival) we used the 'running mustang' on the red helmets. Then during the Smith era, we used those ridiculous silver Ohio State modified helmets. Yuck!!! Then started the 'white helmet' era when Myer arrived for '77.

However, the 'standing' mustang from '66 & before was truly a classic!

Thanks for the info! You see a lot of the standing Mustang and the OSU helmets but you don't see much from in between.

[Bergermeister]

You see a lot of the standing Mustang

That would be a rearing Mustang.

[NavyCrimson]

Whooops! Good point!

[PerunaDontCare]

At least using different colors is a matter of style. The phony pony is just plain distorted looking. The proportions are wrong.

The phony pony looks like a starved and sickly gelding.

[Rayburn]

The Galloping Mustang logo was designed for Ford by Phil Clark leading up to the Mustang car's debut in 1964. Clark provided nine versions of a running mustang to choose from. After some feedback from designer John Najjar, the design was put in the hands of Waino Kangas who carved the Mustang in mahogany (damn, where is THAT?). The carving was used for casting the emblem that has appeared on the car's grill.

In 1968, the SMU Mustangs and the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League both, for the first time, wore red helmets sporting a white mustangs on the side that were dead ringers for a silhouette of that Clark/Najjar/Kangas' mustang. Both SMU and Calgary license products with the Galloping Mustang under their own registration. The SMU version of the Galloping Mustang is slightly different from the Calgary version most notably in the tail. Too often, the Stampeder logo is used for SMU.

In 2006, Ford began agressively pursuing legal action to protect the Mustang name by demanding all after-market parts companies that had Mustang in the name to remove it or face legal action. However, it's not apparent that Ford has ever taken steps to enforce any type of protection of the Mustang logo.

[NavyCrimson]

Great job Rayburn.

I had read that the 'direction' of the mustang differentiates the Ford version from SMU's. Have you heard that one?

I also noticed that SMU uses 'TM' on their logo for trademarked. Your thoughts?