The Ford Mustang I is a small, mid-engined (4-cylinder), open two-seater concept car with aluminium body work that was built by Ford in 1962. Although it shared few design elements with the final production vehicle, it did lend its name to the line.

The Ford Mustang I made its formal debut at the United States Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, New York on October 7, 1962, where test driver and contemporary Formula One race driver Dan Gurney lapped the track in a demonstration of the prototype. He reportedly drove the car "to 120 ... causing the automotive "rumor mill then began churning even faster" with reports by Motor Trend that "Ford will produce a sports car to compete with the Corvette" which was exactly the publicity stunt what Iacocca was hoping to achieve.

For the next two years, both Ford Mustang I's appeared at car shows and automotive events as a show car. The car attracted attention, "but was too complex for regular production." An unusual use for the cars was to tour colleges as a marketing tool for Ford. After reactions from potential customers and focus groups had demonstrated that the original concept of the Mustang I had limited appeal to the general public, a completely new concept car, the Mustang II, appeared in 1963. With the appearance of this Ford Mustang II concept car, the original "Mustang" concept car became the Mustang I. Both cars were from Eugene Bordinat's Advanced Design group, which developed 13 Mustang concepts. The original code name for this group of cars was also "Allegro". One of the cars from this design project actually became known as Allegro.

The four-seater Mustang was known beforehand to be the car that would actually be produced for sale using the first generation Ford Falcon platform. Based on a four-seater configuration and using a front-engined layout based on the Falcon, the Mustang II was much more conventional in design and concept and closely resembled the final production variant that would appear in 1964. Nearly the only design element that remained from the original Mustang I were the fake louvers that recreated the radiator scoops of the two-seater.

The prancing pony emblem did carry over, and Phil Clark is credited with this iconic design.

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