One Name, Three Products.

It was a picture of a car and a guitar together that seems to have got me thinking about how one product name can be used for very different products. Ask most people to name a product called Mustang and they're likely to immediately name the classic Ford Mustang. The car was introduced in 1964, and racked up more than 2 million sales the first 2 years of production. The name continues to be used by Ford to this day, with its galloping horse logo probably as well known as the actual body shapes its gone through over the years.

Ask a guitar player and they may think of the Fender Mustang. One of the last products developed by Leo Fender before CBS(yes, that CBS) bought Fender in 1965 the guitar was very obviously named after the car, just as earlier Fender guitars had been given names evoking the cutting edge broadcasting and aerospace industries. Fender made the connection even more obvious when they introduced the Competition finishes in 1969, which featured racing stripes on the body. Although the sleek little instrument was intended as a student model its turned up in the hands of many pros over the years. The bass model was also quite successful, and turned up in the hands of musicians such as Rolling Stone Bill Wyman.

Then there's the Colt Mustang. In 1986 Colt introduced this pistol, which is chambered for .380 ACP calibre round, also know as the 9mm Short. Its intended to fulfull the role of "pocket pistol," in other words an easily concealable weapon you might carry in a pants or jacket pocket, and is based on John Browning's classic Colt Model 1911 .45 ACP calibre pistol. Like many Colt products this gun has a prancing horse logo on both its slide and on medalions on the grip plates, which might make one think of Ford's Mustang logo.